The Extras
by Lady Lynnaya
Summary: Oz has stolen the blueprints for the Gundams, including the schematics for the Zero system. Noin calls in the Gundams, but they won't be enough so she calls in some backup. Romance and comedy. Always a good combo. ^_^V
1. Introductions

A/n- Lady Lynnaya: Hello! This is my first fanfic, so go easy on me. I'm writing it with the help of my long lost sister, FireImp, and our friends the high-flying chibi-muses.  
  
Chibi-muse Duo: She beats up Wu-chan! It's about time somebody knocked some sense into him.  
  
Chibi-muse Quatre: Be nice! We shouldn't fight! We should be friends. (teary-eyed) I don't like fighting. Why is everybody so violent?  
  
Chibi-muse Heero: Because explosions are fun! Especially if you're in them. Too bad this fic doesn't have anything blowing up yet.  
  
Lady Lynnaya: Don't worry, my little friend. Plenty of things will be blowing up sometime in the next two chapters.  
  
Chibi-muse Heero: Yay! (starts going through his explosive collection to find something he can use to blow up chibi-muse Wufei's sword collection)  
  
Chibi-muse Trowa: . . .  
  
Chibi-muse Wufei: INJUSTICE! BAKA ONNAS! STAY AWAY FROM MY SWORDS, HEERO!   
  
Lady Lynnaya: Anyway, neither FireImp or I own Gundam Wing. Someone else does. (catches chibi-muse Duo and glomps him) Enjoy the show! (chibi-muses sit down and pull out popcorn)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The Extras  
Part one- The Meeting  
  
  
  
  
He was in pain. A lot of pain. He was wounded, but not the way that was usual for him. He sighed, rolled over, and looked at the ceiling. It's been two weeks since she kicked me out. Why did she do it? What did I do to make Hilde so upset with me? Or was she just sick of me hanging around rather than angry? Damn it, what happened? His thoughts ran around in circles, always coming back to the same word. Why. Why this, why that, and he couldn't find the answer. He rolled onto his side, and closed his eyes to block out the sunlight coming through the window, and rubbed the ache in his heart. His thoughts drifted back to when he was still living with Hilde. She had seemed so happy with him. What had he done wrong? There wasn't anything he could think of. Then again, he was a man, and she may have found fault with something he found no fault with, like his belching.   
  
An image popped into his head, from a time he tried to forget. The streets, the church, and the hyper little anger that always some how found him. He smiled as he thought of her; though he had been around ten years since the last time he had seen her. He remembered how Solo brought her to their home one day. They were surprised to see him bring a girl. Usually they didn't take in girls, but she was . . . different. There was something about her that made her hard to forget. Wouldn't he know. Ten years later and he still remembered her. He was wished she were there. She was so good at making him feel better, especially after Solo died and he became the leader. He sighed as he remembered when she left. The Maxwell Church had taken them all in. He was sent to foster homes, but for some reason they never sent her away. He always found some way to get sent back to the church so he could be with her. Then, they came. The reason why she had never been sent to a foster home, her sisters. She left the day they came back, promising that she wouldn't forget him, and she would find him again some day. She begged her sisters to let him come with them, but they had enough trouble just the three of them. So, he stayed at the church and waited. Eventually, they stopped trying to send him to foster homes and let him stay at the church. Then the church was destroyed, and he was the only survivor. I wonder if she's still alive. He sighed yet again. I wonder if she knows I'm still alive. He rolled to his other side, putting his back to the door. He could here his roommate moving around downstairs, and he lay as still as possible.  
  
And three, two, one, pester. Right on cue, a young man barged into the room. Dark Prussian blue eyes glared at the lump on the bed. He shoved at some of the brown strand that had fallen in his eyes. The tall youth glared at the bed like he could burn a hole in it and get its occupant to get the lead out.  
  
"Get up, Duo. I know you're awake. Get your lazy ass out of bed and do something constructive for once. You've been moping around for way too long. It's time for you to forget about Hilde and move on." The lump on the bed turned over and regarded him with violet eyes filled with pain.   
  
"Easy for you to say, Ice Prince. You try having the girl you love, the girl you've lived with for two whole years kick you out without so much as a reason or explanation, just 'Here are your bags, have fun finding a new place to live. Oh, by the way, we're over.' You try to go through that without being depressed. " The two boys glared at each for a few minutes, then Duo rolled back over and tried to go back to sleep. He was almost asleep when the sheets were suddenly violently ripped off him, and he was grabbed around his waist and lifted off the bed.  
  
"Damn it, Heero, put me down and let me sleep."  
  
"You've been sleeping for five days straight. I think that's enough. You've got work to do." Heero dragged Duo into the bathroom, tossed him in the shower still fully dressed, and turned the water on as cold as he could get it. A loud scream echoed through the tiled room, bringing a smug smile to Heero's lips.  
  
"Alright, I'm awake! I'm awake! Let me out of here, Heero. Let me out! Shit, this water's COLD!!" Duo had started to pound on the shower door when it suddenly opened, as he lost his balance and fell soaking wet on the floor. He glared at Heero. Ever since Hilde had kicked Duo out, Heero had let him stay at his apartment. Every morning Heero tried to get him out of bed, but unless there was something going on at Preventers Headquarters, he let him go back to bed. Even so, Heero had never been so forceful getting Duo up. Something really big must be going on. That, or Heero was just in a bad mood.  
  
"Did you have to do that?" Duo asked Heero as he tried to fix his hair, which happened to be held in a three-foot braid. "There are other ways to wake a person up, you know. Ways that are more pleasant and not so much a shock to the system." He sneezed. "And if I catch a chill, I'm blaming you."  
  
"We're needed at HQ. There's something big happening, and although Noin didn't give me many details, I do know she called the other Gundam's. And we may not be enough, so she's also called in some backup."  
  
That got Duo's attention. The mighty Gundam pilots need back up? " Let me get this straight, the five of us aren't enough?"  
  
"Seven. She includes Zechs and Treize as Gundam pilots. So you get the idea how big this is?"  
  
Duo gulped and nodded. He got up, dried off, and got dressed. He draped his wet pjs over the shower, and grabbed a bag of chips before jumping into the jeep next to Heero. The two eighteen-year-old boys headed for the Preventer's Headquarters to see what was going on. They flashed their IDs at the front gate and pulled into their reserved parking space. Being among the deadliest men in the earth sphere had its perks. They headed for the office they share, but as they turned a corner, they ran into a rather small blond boy. After picking himself off the floor, the boy smiled at them.  
  
"Duo! Heero! It's great to see you guys again! Have you spoken to Noin yet? I'm on my way to go see her. I've been wondering what could be going on they she called all of us and Treize and Zechs," said the blond Gundam pilot.  
  
"No, we haven't talked to her either. We know about as much as you do, Quatre. Did you know she called in extra people?" said Duo.  
  
"What?! You mean she thinks the seven of us aren't enough?! This must be really bad." The blond Arab frowned. What could be so wrong that the seven deadliest people know to man couldn't correct? Suddenly, their thoughts were disturbed by a loud voice.  
  
"INJUSTICE!!! BAKA ONNA!!" The group smiled grimly as they were joined by a fourth Gundam pilot. The oriental clothes, face, and ponytail identified him as Wufei. "HAVE YOU HEARD!!" he shouted, "NOIN HAS CALLED IN WOMEN TO JOIN US!"   
  
"Take it as a compliment, Wu-chan. If Noin thinks that all we need for back up is two girls, that's a good thing, right?" Duo said casually as they headed for the lounge. Besides, maybe one of them is hot. What am I thinking!? I just broke up with someone. Wait a minute, I can flirt without cheating now. I could get used to this. A box of donuts lay open on the counter. Grinning, Duo looked at them, trying to pick the tastiest looking one.  
  
"Baka. Noin told me that the two girls she called in are not only younger than us, but also more qualified for the mission. They're not coming to be our back, we've been called to be theirs." Wufei stood there fuming for a minute. Duo selected his donut, stuck it in his mouth, and then covered his ears. Heero and Quatre did the same.  
  
"INJUSTICE!!!!! BAKA ONNA!!!!! HAVE YOU NO CONFIDENCE IN US!!!!????? HAVE WE SUNK TO THE LEVEL OF MERE GIRLS!!!!!!??????"  
  
"Could you scream a little louder next time, Wufei? I think I still have some hearing left."  
  
The boys turned to see Noin, Treize, Zechs, Sally, and Trowa standing behind them. Wufei stomped up to Noin.  
  
"You! How dare you do this to us? We are warriors, not ladies-in-waiting. You expect us to play underling to some weak onnas and-"  
  
"You'll do it or millions of people will die slow, painful, inhuman deaths," she finished for him. That shut him up real fast. "The place where you're going is well known to them. They're not 'weak onnas'," she stated in a don't-mess-with-me voice, "they're my younger sisters. The five of you are only older than them by about six months, so it's not like I'm having you work with ten-year-olds, so get over it. They're highly skilled and more than qualified to lead the mission. If you don't like it, I'm sure we won't have a hard time finding someone to fill in your shoes." With that, she led them to an elevator and pushed the up button. "Now let's hurry to the conference room." They all crowded into the elevator. Noin was very impatient to get out of the elevator and to the conference room.  
  
"What's wrong, Miss Noin?" asked the ever polite Quatre. "Are you claustrophobic? You seem anxious to get out of here."  
  
"Yeah, Noin. What's the deal?" questioned Zechs.  
  
Noin blushed slightly. "I made a bet with them. They made a good point that all of you get paid for every mission you go on, and felt that it was unfair that they not get the same treatment."  
  
"So what was the bet?" asked Trowa.  
  
"I told them to try to sneak into this building and get to the conference room. I'm only going to pay for what I get. If they get caught on the way up, then I won't pay them." Wufei smirked at that. He couldn't sneak into that building without getting caught, how could they? Meanwhile, Noin was still talking.   
  
"If they get to the conference room after we get there without getting caught along the way, then they get paid $1200 per mission." All of the men squirmed. They only got $1000 per mission, which was more than any other Preventer got but still . . .  
  
"What if they get there before we do?" asked Heero.  
  
"Double what they would get if we got there first."  
  
Eight jaws hit the floor. Were Noin's sisters really that good? If they got there first, they would get more than double what the boys got. Surely, it would be okay, I mean, how do you break into a building filled with people trained not to let anything get by them. It's like breaking into a police station.  
  
"Is there anything you can tell us about them?" asked Trowa, submitting record two whole sentences to the conversation.  
  
"The older one, Ri, is often called the Angel of Death."  
  
Duo perked up at the mention of death. "Hey, but I'm the God of Death! She can't be the Angel of Death! Isn't that like plagiarism or something? It's patented, like Heero's Death Glare(c)."  
  
Heero then used the said Death Glare(c) on Duo. It didn't work. Damn.  
  
"Actually, I think it fits her very well. Any of her enemies that see her don't live to talk about it. Any one who pisses her off had better say his prayers and hope she lets him live. I understand, Duo, that you feel uncomfortable that her name is so close to yours, but another reason it suits her well is because, well, she's so much like you it scares me sometimes."  
  
"I don't know if that's an insult or a compliment, but for now I'll just ignore that comment."  
  
"And the other? What does she go by?" asked Quatre.  
  
" The Fairy of Justice."  
  
"Justice, huh? Fairy!? How dare she put the two words together. Baka onna!" said an upset Wufei.  
  
"Chill, Wufei. I've met both of Noin's sisters, and fairy is really a good word for Re. She's a mischievous little thing, but she has a sense of honor and justice. And when she's pissed she's as bad as Ri. Their motto is 'You mess with one of us, you mess with both of us'." Sally playfully jabbed Wufei in the ribs with her elbow. "I think you'd like her, Wu-chan. You'd have a lot in common other than the fact that you're a sexist pig." Rather than yelling at her for calling him a sexist pig, Wufei blushed and turned his face away from her and looked at the floor. He began muttering about stupid onnas and baka matchmakers. Noin was about to say something when the elevator doors opened, and the nine occupants made a mad dash to the conference room. They burst through the doors into the dark room. Someone thought to turn on the lights, and they breathed sighs of relief. In the center of the large room was a square made of four tables set perpendicular to each other. There was a small kitchenette in the corner, complete with coffee maker. One corner of the room was dark, but they knew that the corner there held a desk filled with office supplies that could be used during meetings. The smell of highlighters hung in the air as Treize walked over to the coffee maker to see if he could get the temper mental machine to work. The others smiled, knowing that never had the machine, in the entire history of its presence in the conference room, had functioned properly.  
  
"Looks like they aren't here," Sally said as she looked around the room.  
  
"Don't be too sure about that," said a voice from the darkness surrounding the desk. A slender, dark-haired girl wearing men's jeans, faded sneakers, and a navy blue spaghetti strap shirt walked out of the corner and approached Noin. Her short hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the stray strands held back by silver barrettes. Her green eyes smiled as she handed a piece of paper to Noin. "Here you go, Noin. A pretty picture to go on your fridge."   
  
Noin took the paper and looked at it. Hard. Then her eyes crossed. "Geez, Re, what did you color it in with, highlighters? I haven't seen such bright colors since Duo's birthday party with the neon cake."  
  
Another voice came from the darkness. "Yep. Highlighters are good for making a pretty Pegasus for your fridge. What's wrong, too bright for you, sis?" Loud clicking was heard from the desk. What was she doing over there?  
  
"I'd say just a little." Noin managed another look at the winged horse, then shook her head and set it on the table. It was immediately scooped up by Duo. The bright colors dazzled his eyes for a minute, and then he was able to look past them to the drawing itself. His jaw dropped again. The detail of the picture was amazing! This girl was one hell of an artist. It had to take at least half an hour for her just to draw it. When he said as much, Re just shrugged.  
  
"What can I say? The two of us got bored just sitting up here, so we decided to do something creatively artistic. Our other options were to sniff white out or use masking tape and one of those big pink erasers to play hopscotch. We don't do drugs, or markers, and we hate hopscotch. So, artistic creativity won."  
  
"I can't wait to see what the other one did," was the comment from Wufei.  
  
"Just a minute. I'm almost done." A final loud click was heard form the corner, and then the other twin emerged. She looked almost exactly like Re, but her skin was more olive colored, and her eyes were brown rather than green. She wore a small silver ear cuff on her right ear, but none of the boys could see what it was. As for her clothes, she wore the same as Re, except her jeans were obviously woman's pants. The tightness and how they just barely came past her hips made Duo drool for a moment. Then he remembered where he was and sobered up. In her hands was what looked like a wad of paperclips. She walked up to Noin, and unfolded the mass of silver to reveal an elegant, well-made necklace. She clasped it around Noin's neck, and then caught her sister in a big hug. Re, not about to be left out, jumped over and nearly knocked over her sisters. The twins pulled away and grinned at their big sister.  
  
"Well, Noin? A deal's a deal. $2400 a mission each," said the darker twin. Noin sighed.  
  
"Right. A deal's a deal," she said. The guys were looking a little uptight. $2400 a mission each? What were they planning on doing with so much money? If things were going to get as bad as Noin implied, they were going to be going on a lot of missions. Plus, there was the compensation payment. That meant if they got wounded, they would get an extra 15% added to their salary. The two girls smiled and looked at each other.  
  
"So, which ones this time?" asked Ri. Re shrugged.  
  
"You pick."  
  
Ri looked at Noin. " Noin, could you send $1400 of each of our mission paychecks to the Red Cross, the Cancer Research Foundation, and the nearest church, please?"  
  
"Plus any compensation pay we get if we get injured," added Re. There came a loud clunk from behind them. The girls turned around to see the eight boys, hands on the table, absolutely shocked by what they said. Quatre's face lit up in a big grin as he ran over to shake the girls hands.  
  
"Finally, people as generous as I am. I give all of my paychecks to charity as well." He continued to smile at the girls. They smiled back.   
  
Re asked, "And your name is?" as she gave him a who-the-hell-is-this-weirdo look.  
  
Quatre laughed at his own mistake. "How rude of me! My name is Quatre Raberba Winner. It's a pleasure to met you, ladies." He chivalrously kissed the girls hands. When he let them go, they took a good look at him, looked at each other, then glomped him. (a/n a glomp is a really big hug, especially an unexpected one) The small Arab blushed as the girls hugged him. They let him go and said in unison, "Kawaii!"  
  
Noin laughed. "Oh, boy. They've picked a name for you now."  
  
"What do you mean, picked a name for him?" asked the braided wonder.  
  
Sally answered for Noin. "They pick a nickname for all of their friends. If they meet more than four people at once, at least two of them have names that are Japanese for something." The tall blond Amazon mussed Quatre's hair. "In your case, you got to be 'cute'."  
  
"Cute!?" said the kawaii blond. The girls nodded.  
  
"Very kawaii. You make me think of kittens. Little ones, with little gray stripes and white faces. And big green eyes." Ri glomped Quatre again, making him blush again.   
  
"So the weakling is 'cute', is he? Hah! Baka onnas. You're as slow and weak as he is. Donating your salary to medical foundations, I understand. I do that with my bonuses. But donating to churches? Bakas. Both of you." Who else could this have come from but Wufei. And of course, he said it loud enough for everyone to hear. Duo, who donated his bonuses to churches was greatly offended, and he was about to turn around and beat the shit out of Wufei when he heard the sound of a blow landing. Apparently, someone beat him to it. He turned to see Wufei on the ground with blood flowing from his nose, and standing over him was the Angel of Death.  
  
"I'm a baka? I'M A BAKA?! DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE MESSING WITH HERE?!" the girl shouted. Suddenly, her tone became very low and menacing. "So, I'm a baka. Well, listen here Mr. I-have-a-stick-shoved-where-the-sun-don't-shine, I've gotten more kindness and friendship from people at a church than people you've killed. And we both know you've killed quite a few." Wufei looked up at her, intending to glare at her insolently, only to find himself caught in the most blazing, soul-piercing, pissed-off gaze he had ever had the misfortune to see. He could swear he saw lightning flashing in the chocolate depths. He cringed when she bent to look him straight in the eyes. She was intimidating when looking down at him, but he found her even more frightening eye-to-eye. She growled as she grabbed him by the shirt collar. "The next time you say anything nasty about me donating my salary to churches, or anyone else who does the same thing, keep in mind that it's none of your business. What we or anyone else does with our salaries is not your concern. The next time you stick your nose where it doesn't belong, your nose won't be what I break. And I won't just break them, I'll remove them." With that she released him and went back to the desk to find comfort in the darkness. Re went over to Wufei and helped him up.   
  
"It's really not a good idea to piss her off. It's bad for your health." Wufei was about to thank her for helping him up when he found himself flat on his ass again. His cheek burned where she had slapped him. "That's for calling my sister a baka. Don't think we don't know what it means." The glare she was sending him was much like her sister's, but as Ri's eyes shone with intense anger, Re's eyes shone with the superiority that came with knowing you had the upper hand. Also in her eyes, and written all over her face, was the urge for justice. He respected her for that, and the fact that she had the guts to carry out the urge to create justice. Still, he found himself fearing her. It was a first for him, fearing a woman. For some reason, he didn't hate as much as he thought he would. He got to his feet only to be slapped down again, this time she hit the other cheek. "Just so you know, Baka, you mess with one of us, you mess with both of us." Then she too turned and left him on the ground. She went to the darkness of the desk, where the loud clicking from before had resumed. Noin sighed and shook her head at Wufei.  
  
"I told you not to piss them off," she said and went to join her sisters. Through the whole thing, the others had stood silent, watching the petite women berate the powerful Chinese boy. Sally went to Wufei, pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket and called over to Noin.  
  
"I'm going to take him down to the infirmary to have his nose checked. We'll be back as soon as we can."  
  
"Okay, Sally. I'll wait to explain everything until you two get back."  
  
Sally nodded, helped Wufei up, and half lifted/half supported the pilot. Heero and Trowa sat at a table and fell asleep sitting up, Quatre began talking to Zechs, and Treize went to see if he could get the coffee machine to work. Duo was still frozen where he was. Had his eyes been playing tricks on him, or had he seen fear in Wufei's eyes when Ri and Re had been yelling at him? He smiled, remembering what Ri had called him. Fitting. Duo had always thought Wufei had a stick up his ass. Good to know someone agreed with him. Suddenly, loud laughter came from the corner.  
  
"I can't believe you did that! You stole Wufei's pocket change!" came Noin's voice, choked with laughter.  
  
"Serves the damn baka right! I wonder when he'll notice that you didn't take just his change, but his car keys, his wallet, and his hair gel, too!"  
  
Hair gel? So that's why his hair is so shiny. Duo thought. So they stole his stuff? He's going to be really pissed when he gets back up here. He may not notice his change or missing wallet, but he's going to notice the keys in a hurry. He worships that motorcycle.  
  
Zechs and Treize were trying not to laugh, Heero and Trowa were still asleep, but Quatre wasn't amused.  
  
"That's not very nice, you know. What are you going to do with his stuff?" scolded Quatre.  
  
"As soon as I see him, I'm going to give it all back to him. I just wanted to see if I could pull it off without him noticing. I guess Ri had him so scared he didn't notice my hand slip into his pocket when I helped him up," replied Re, tossing Wufei's keys into the air and catching them. "Why was he so scared, anyway? I know Ri's glares are scary but dang! From what you and Sally have been telling us, that boy isn't afraid of anything, especially women. What have you been telling them, Noin?"  
  
"I just told him not to piss you girls off or he might not live to see the future."  
  
"Noin! We aren't that bad and you know it! Okay, so maybe we are. But what about everything else? Have you been exaggerating again?" Ri was interrogating Noin as Re walked out to the table across from Heero and Trowa.  
  
"Woman, you've got to stop doing that! We can handle this mission, no problem. But if you keep telling people we're more than we are, they're going to have expectations we can't meet!" Her face broke into a wide grin. "But it was fun scaring that guy. Hopefully, he won't be such a pain in the ass all the time."  
  
"We can hope. But I've learned not to expect miracles. I've never seen one before now, so why should I suddenly start seeing them?" said Duo. "He's such a tight ass he farts at a frequency only dogs can hear." That got laughs from Zechs, Treize, Noin, and the twins.  
  
"I'd scold you, except it's just too funny and fitting to deny," giggled Noin.  
  
"I've been wondering, how did the two of you get in here?" said Treize, chuckling under his breath and still trying to get the coffee machine to work. He punched it and the machine spat a few thick drops of coffee into the pot.  
  
"Do you really want to know," asked Re, hesitant to reveal their secret.  
  
"Yes," they all said, including Heero and Trowa, who woke up when Treize punched the coffee machine.  
  
The two girls looked at each other and blushed. Ri spoke up, "We flirted our way in. We flirted with all of the guards so they would let us in. Except for one."  
  
"And him we bribed with homemade fudge."  
  
"That was going to be my lunch! It's not fair!" pouted Ri. To emphasize her point, her stomach growled. Ri blushed and rubbed her stomach. Re gave her sister a hug.  
  
"Hey, it's for a good cause, remember? Because of your sacrifice, we can each give $1400 to charity rather than just $200."  
  
"Yeah, you're right. I'll live. Hungrily, but I'll live." She brightened after that, and treated Quatre to a flying glomp. (a/n- she basically tackled him and hugged him in mid-air.)  
  
Duo remembered something then. He began rummaging in his extra-large pockets until he found what he was looking for.  
  
"Here, would you like this? I've already had one, I just snagged this one for later. It's a bit squished, but you can have it if you want it." Heero was amazed as Duo offered Ri a donut, but not just any donut. Vanilla cream filled. Duo's favorite. Usually you had to threaten him with death or bribe him with cheesecake to get him to give up one of his donuts. Ri ran over to him, glomped him, and gratefully accepted the donut. She took a big bite of it and sighed in ecstasy.  
  
"Vanilla cream. My favorite." She looked at Duo with gratitude filled eyes. "You must be a god or something. Who are you?"  
  
"What you said. I'm a god. Duo Maxwell, the God of Death, pleased to meet you," he said as he bowed over her hand and licked some of the filling off the back of her hand.  
  
"Pleased to meet you, Braid Boy. I'm sure you've heard this from Noin, but I'm Ri Noin, the Angel of Death. The pleasure is mine. I can tell we have a lot in common. So, what do you think of Baka?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A/n- Lady Lynnaya: (shoving the chibi-muses into cages with their popcorn) Well, that' the first chapter. The next one will be up as soon as FireImp and get our notes together and figure out what the hell we're trying to do. Until then, read and review to your heart's content. Flames are welcome, as they will keep me warm at my laptop. 


	2. The Fight and the Day After

FireImp: (glomping chibi-muse Wufei) Hehehe. I'm so mean to you. But you love me, remember that.  
  
Chibi-muse Wufei: Grrrrrrr...  
  
Lady Lynnaya: (glomping chibi-muse Duo) Not only do you know you love her anyway but you deserve everything she dishes out to you! Baka.  
  
Chibi-muse Quatre: Why must everybody be so mean? (glomps chibi-muse Trowa and begins to cry loudly)  
  
Chibi-muse Heero: Because being mean is fun, just like BLOWING STUFF UP!!! (runs away to find more explosive implements of destruction while laughing evilly)  
  
Chibi-muse Trowa: . (slurps ramen-in-a-cup)  
  
Lady Lynnaya and FireImp: Enjoy the show and don't forget the popcorn! (pull big bowls of popcorn out of chibi-muse Duo's bottomless pockets)  
  
Lady Lynnaya: This is going to be interesting because we're actually going to be in the same room when we write it this time.  
  
FireImp: (laughs diabolically)  
  
Chibi-muses All: (cowering in fear, teary eyes, holding up signs that read 'Help save the chibi-muses from the hands of the diabolical twins!')  
  
Lady Lynnaya: PS- we don't own Gundam.  
  
FireImp: (cries) WHY!?  
  
  
  
"Damn it, Wufei, why don't you ever listen?"  
  
"Ow, baka onna, that hurts!" Wufei growled as Sally roughly pinched his tender nose.  
  
"Before I can set it I need to stop the bleeding. Trowa, come here and hold his nose for me." Trowa did as told while Sally went to find gauze, popsicle sticks and tape. The others stood outside in the waiting room, as another group had needed to use the conference room and they had been kicked out, but not before Ri had used her mad skills to fix the psychotic coffee machine. Treize had proposed on the spot, even though he was living with Lady Une. Fortunately for all, Ri had declined.  
  
"Shouldn't you know better than to say that now?" Noin asked from the doorway, smirking.  
  
Wufei glared ominously at her from the corner of his eye as Sally tsked at him for being stupid. The twins stood in the corner, glaring at Wufei. Noin explained the situation to the uninformed, and Quatre asked, "What ever will we do in the meantime? There's work to be done immediately!"  
  
Re and Ri smiled demonically at each other, sharing some strange twin- understanding thing. Duo quirked a brow at the sisters. He didn't like how that laugh sounded. That's how he laughs when he's up to something. Ri said, "Where's the nearest bar? I'm hungry. Not to mention thirsty. Very thirsty indeed."  
  
Duo laughed. "Howard's."  
  
Quatre was in shock. "You're.serious, aren't you? You seriously want to go to a bar?"  
  
Re glomped him and said affectionately. "Of course, Kawaii. We're always serious about our booze."  
  
"And our chocolate," added Ri, still licking vanilla cream off her fingers.  
  
"Damn straight we are." Everyone was getting bored just standing around waiting for Sally to finish treating Wufei. Plus, as well as they knew Wufei, they knew that once Sally got down to actually straightening his nose rather than just stopping the bleeding, he would start screaming like a little school girl who had been breathing helium. Plus, Sally wasn't a pretty sight when she was dealing with a problem patient. They glanced at each other, anxious to be out of there before the screaming began. The only ones who seemed to want to stay were Duo, Ri, and Re, but that was only because they enjoyed watching Wufei being tortured. Noin caught on to their eagerness.  
  
"Hey Sally, we're going to go down to the garage and figure out which cars we're taking. Come meet up with us when you're done."  
  
"Fine with me. We shouldn't be too long. The way Ri broke it was very painful but shouldn't be too hard to straighten. Give us about fifteen minutes or so," replied Sally as she pulled on rubber gloves. Wufei cringed as Sally started pulling out instruments that looked like they belonged in a medieval torture dungeon rather than a medical hospital.  
  
They walked out the doors, but Ri, Re and Duo paused for a minute. They waited a few moments, then when they heard Wufei's screams, smiled with satisfaction and ran to catch up to the others. Re was chattering at Ri in some sort of gibberish that they'd created as children, and they burst into giggling fits occasionally. Duo slipped behind Re and handed her a twenty. She seemed bewildered and before she asked what this was for, he whispered, "I want you to do something for me. How are you on motorcycles?"  
  
Re grinned. "Passable. I haven't crashed in ages."  
  
"For her, that's really good. You should have seen her when Cretzy was first trying to teach her." Re cringed as her twin reminded her of the pain and agony she endured. Duo was confused. Nothing new there.  
  
"Who's Cretzy?"  
  
"Our older sister," said the twins in unison.  
  
"Actually, her first name is Lucretzia."  
  
"What, you thought Noin was her first name?" said Re.  
  
"Our parents have weird taste in names, but not that weird," said Ri.  
  
Duo blushed, unwilling to admit that he had thought that Noin was her first name. Wufei probably thought the same thing, so he didn't feel too bad. Then, they reached the garage.  
  
"So, what's this favor got to do?" asked Re. Duo grinned devilishly.  
  
About twenty minutes later, Wufei and Sally got down to the garage. Wufei was looking ready to kill someone, and Sally was totally ignoring him.  
  
"You know, I wouldn't have had to tie you down if you hadn't been kicking me," said Sally nonchalantly.  
  
"You didn't have to be so rough, baka onna. And you didn't have to tie me so tight," complained the sullen teen. They stepped out of the hallway leading from the elevators to find the others minus Re standing on the curb. It looked like they were waiting for something and Ri and Duo were grinning in a way that scared Wufei and Sally. They were just about to ask what was going on when a loud roar reached their ears. Suddenly, a large, silver blur soared over a nearby car.  
  
"Hey, that's my truck they just jumped over!" exclaimed Sally.  
  
"That's okay. She's riding Wufei's bike," said Noin, as Duo and Ri burst out laughing at the look on Wufei's face.  
  
"Who she? It wouldn't be your pale sister, would it Noin?" asked a worried Wufei.  
  
"You bet your stubby pigtail, Baka," replied Ri, watching as her twin wove back and forth between the pillars that supported the roof. Wufei looked about ready to have a cardiac. Re did wheelies, jumps over several other cars, including Zechs' red convertible, Heero's black commuter car, Duo's yellow sports car, and Trowa's dark blue minivan. None of them knew it was Trowa's van until he yelled when she jumped over it. They wanted to know why he would need a minivan.  
  
"I work for the circus on the side. You'd be amazed how many clowns can fit in a minivan with a tiger and a bearded woman," he defended.  
  
They sighed, and turned back to watch Re some more. Eventually, she pulled back to the curb, pulled off her helmet, and grinned. "I ran out of gas. Sorry, baka, I'd pay you back if I had more money than just the twenty Duo paid me."  
  
Wufei glared at the braided American, who chose to ignore him. Re turned to Noin and Ri.  
  
"I've never been able to do any of that before. Last time I tried any of that the paramedics thought I was dead and the bike, well." she wiped a tear from her eye, " may it rest in peace. I miss that bike." She started crying on the shoulder of her twin, who patted her head and spoke to her in their gibberish. That sent Wufei over the edge. But before he could so much as open his mouth, Duo and the twins had all piled into his little sports car and pulled away. Duo made a very rude gesture to Wufei as they drove by.  
  
"Only in your sickest dreams, Maxwell!!!! Only in your sickest dreams!!!!!"  
  
The girls sat in the back of the car with a bag they had pulled out of Noin's car. Duo looked nervous as the girls started pulling clothes out of the bag.  
  
"What are you two doing back there?" he asked.  
  
"Changing. Keep your eyes on the road in front of us and don't look in the rear view mirror and everything will be fine." Duo followed his orders, but laughed at some of the sounds he heard coming from the back.  
  
"Where's my skirt?"  
  
"You're sitting on it. Have you seen my other shoes?"  
  
"Oh, these are yours?"  
  
Duo just kept driving and didn't ask. He figured he was happier not knowing.  
  
Howard's was smoky and crowded that afternoon when the Gundam pilots strolled in. The bass thrummed through their heads, the electric guitar whined and the vocalists were unintelligible. But that didn't seem to matter to the twins. They knew the music wasn't great but just having a rhythm and a melody was good enough for them to dance to. And when they danced, they danced. They had changed before going, into slinky, subtly sexy clothes, which was very different from their everyday clothes. Ri had chosen a skirt that was so short that Duo's eyes had popped out of his head, especially when she was getting out of the car, and Quatre nearly fainted. Her shirt had not changed, however, and was still the dark spaghetti strap tank. Her shoes could be classified as weapons and the boys didn't know how she could move so fast in them. She just smiled. Re hadn't changed her outfit much. The long sleeved midriff top was certainly an interesting contrast with the men's jeans. The strobe lights flashed in the darkness, revealing the numerous bodies for but a moment before sending the room back into shadows. Ri and Re were having the times of their lives, being out in the crush of people, dancing crazy dances that were fueled by more than just a couple drinks, and laughing their butts off at each other. Duo smiled. Ri was certainly different. And cute. He shook his head. So soon after Hilde, a little voice chided him. But why not? Hilde dumped him, and he finally got over it, and he was free to roam and look and flirt. His gaze drifted to Ri, watching her dance with her sister like there was nothing better to do in the world. Well, he'd have to show her now, wouldn't he? He tapped the darker sister's shoulder. "Mind if I cut in?" he shouted over the music.  
  
Re bowed and replied just as loudly, "She's all yours."  
  
Ri never missed a beat. She didn't seem uncomfortable dancing with him; after all, she'd been dancing that way the entire time, so why change? Duo turned out to be a wild dancer himself. That's one of the things she loved about him, was his sense of fun. He never passed up a good time if it could be helped. The pair danced, not bothering to talk. Why bother if they couldn't hear each other anyway?  
  
They were having loads of fun, unlike Wufei, who sat in a dark corner, sulking. His nose had been repaired with what looked like duct tape and tissues, but Re wasn't about to comment. He'd been in 'that mood' the whole time that they'd been there. She casually made her way to the table and plunked a beer in front of him. "Drink this, it'll make you feel better," she ordered.  
  
"And what would you know about drinking, onna?" he retorted.  
  
She shrugged. "Enough to know when you need one. That's all you need to know."  
  
He returned the shrug. She watched him when he looked away, staring determinedly away from her, not realizing the opportunity he was giving her. She pondered about him while he was distracted. There was definitely some deeper pain that made him act the way he did. Like. a lead bullet that had been neglected and buried so deep within him that it slowly festered, burning him up from the inside out. Re resolved to discover that pain, and maybe help him heal, as he would need it if she ferreted out the problem. She perched on the table and swallowed some of the untouched lager. "Come dance with me, Chang Wufei."  
  
He looked at her as though she'd just appeared from Mars. "Why would I want to dance with you?"  
  
"Because dancing is fun and you can't resist my sweet feminine charms?" Re batted her eyelashes at him in false coyness.  
  
He snorted. "You're feminine? I've seen rocks that have more femininity than you do, onna."  
  
With that kind of response, Re couldn't suppress the muscle spasm that landed the remainder of her beer on Wufei's head. "Baka! Jerk!" she yelled at the sodden Chinese boy. Then she quieted and said haughtily, "Besides, I'd be better off dancing with a real man."  
  
Wufei sputtered, blowing beer out of his eyes and wiping drenched locks of his hair out of his face. Then he realized whom Re considered a real man. Quatre was sitting innocently at the bar when Re asked him for a dance. The young blond had no idea what he was in for. Ri saw the two of them together heading for the dance floor and made a flying glomp at Quatre. He was no less than startled at the obvious display of affection, but he danced with both of the twins. Duo didn't seem to mind sharing with Quatre too much, except for prolonged periods of time. When they'd each had a dance, they all sat down at the bar again and the two girls fawned over him. Quatre, the ever-innocent boy, was completely oblivious to the apparent flirtations directed at him. The Maganac Corps guys clapped him on the shoulder. "Nice going, Master Quatre!" "I didn't know you were into twins!" were only some of the congratulations bestowed upon him. And poor innocent little Quatre had no idea what they were talking about. After a few moments, the girls made a dash to the bathroom. Apparently, they had forgotten to put on their make up. Duo couldn't figure out how they would be able to tell whether they were wearing any as dark as it was, but he let them go. He had lived with Hilde long enough to know to just let girls do what they want sometimes. Meanwhile, Quatre sat at the bar with the Maganacs.  
  
"Rashid?" said the timid blond.  
  
"Yes, Master Quatre?" answered the walking Arab mountain.  
  
"What should I do? They keep hugging me."  
  
"Either hug back or run away. Either one. A good question would be if you like them hugging you or not."  
  
"I don't know them well enough. You know I've never had a girl friend. Help me! I'm lost!" Quatre slumped forward on the bar. "They keep messing with my hair! What's this thing they have with my hair!?" He rested his head on his arms and sighed deeply, confused by the girls and how they made him feel. At that moment, he felt two comforting hands rubbing his back.  
  
"Are you okay Quatre?" He looked up to see a pair of worried brown eyes accented by dark gray eye shadow. Ri kissed his forehead and looked at Re. "He's not feverish."  
  
"What's wrong Kawaii? Did you have too much to drink?" Re continued to rub his back, trying to look him in the eyes, but he kept looking away, causing her glossed lips to pout. "Are you tired? Do you want us to just go away for a while and let you rest?" The boy sighed again and let out a soft moan. The girls look at each other, immensely worried about their new friend.  
  
"Don't worry about Master Quatre," said Rashid as he smiled at them, "We'll make sure he'll be okay. If we need anything, you'll be the first ones to know. Now, go have fun with the others. See if you can get that Wufei boy to unwind a little."  
  
Rashid watched the girls walk away, glancing back every so often. After they got back to Duo, they seemed to brighten up a bit. Duo pulled them down into chairs and gave each of them a large glass. Knowing him, it would be full of alcohol. He hoped that the girls could take it.  
  
"Hey Re," said Ri in a slurred voice.  
  
"Yeah, Ri?" said Re in an equally slurred voice.  
  
"I have a piggy in my purse."  
  
"Really?" (FireImp a/n- Yes, really! She actually carries this little black pig made of yarn, beads and wire in her purse. It's almost frightening how bored she gets sometimes.)  
  
"Yep. He's my friend. He makes sure that my sushi candles don't try to invade my purse."  
  
"He's such a good piggy."  
  
"Yep."  
  
"How do you get a rhino to brush his teeth?" This random little comment came from Duo.  
  
"You give him an electric toothbrush." That reply, surprisingly enough, came from Trowa.  
  
"Oh." Duo sat in his chair, gently swaying back and forth. Ri was softly singing a song about a guy with big feet and broken church bells (Lady Lynnaya a/n- I'm singing a song in choir that pretty much runs along that theme. We get to play kazoos.) Wufei had passed out a long time ago. Apparently, he couldn't hold his liquor very well. Noin and Zechs, as designated drivers, were only drinking tea. (general a/n- always have a designated driver. You live longer that way. ^_^) Treize had gone upstairs to the room Howard had on constant reserve for them. Ri and Re were having a wonderful time unbraiding Duo's hair when something by the door caught Re's eye. She nudged Ri, nodding in the direction of the door. Ri's eyes widened. Noin caught the exchange and turned around to see what had them spooked. She too, was surprised by who she saw. She turned around to face her sisters. All signs that they had been intoxicated were gone. Duo looked up at them, wondering what made them stop playing with his hair. Hilde never played with his hair, but he always liked it when girls played with his hair. Especially Ri. He didn't like the look he saw on her face, that look that someone you never want to see again has found you. He tried to follow her gaze, but she looked at Re before he could spot what, or who, she was looking at.  
  
"Okay, one of us has to go deal with him," said Ri, obviously not wanting to be the one to go. He? thought Duo An obsessive ex, maybe? They're pretty girls. I can believe a guy wouldn't want to give up on either one of them. Hell, I know what he's going through. But if he does one thing they don't like, I'm going to hurt him. Duo sat as if he hadn't heard anything and continued to sip his beer. Then he spotted a guy that obviously didn't belong there. That must be him, thought Duo, looking over the guy. Expensive clothes, disgusted look on his face, real leather shoes. Classic spoiled rotten snobby rich brat. He hated people like that. Sure, Quatre was rich, but he wasn't spoiled or snobby. He watched the emotions play over the guy's face as he searched for the girls. He wouldn't find them, as they he ducked behind Duo's hair. Duo casually shifted so he blocked them entirely from view. He could hear them whispering frantically behind them. Since the band had left hours ago, he could hear what they were saying.  
  
"He wanted you first, Ri. You go deal with him," said Re.  
  
"He's after you now, you go deal with the spoiled bastard."  
  
"Let's do this the democratic way," suggested Re. Duo heard Ri agree, then heard them whispering "Rock, paper, scissors, shoot." After several rounds, he heard Re giggle with glee and Ri heave a forlorn sigh. "Hey, you may not have gone out with him, but he's your problem anyway." Ri glared at her sister for a moment, then looked around Duo's chair to see if she could spot him. He was sitting at the bar, showing something to Howard, who manned the bar himself. Ri ducked back behind the chair just as the rich boy turned around to look over his shoulder.  
  
"Dammit, Re. He's still got that damn picture! You know, the one that shows full body shots of both of us. Howard has obviously recognized us in the picture."  
  
"Can you tell what Justin is telling him?"  
  
So his name is Justin. thought the restless Shinigami.  
  
"No, but I bet it's one of his usual stories like that one that we robbed him and ran off or that he lost us in a crowded street. You know how he is."  
  
"Hopefully Howard won't fall for it."  
  
"I don't think you have to worry about anything like that," said Noin, still sipping her tea. "It takes a pretty good story and an even better con artist to pull the wool over Howard's eyes. Even Duo can't get one past him."  
  
Still, the two girls were apprehensive. Re gave Ri a good shove, sending her flying across Duo's lap. He pretended to still be in a stupor.  
  
"Oh, hello Ri. Fancy seeing you here."  
  
"Just go to sleep, Duo. Just take a nice, long nap."  
  
He let his head drop back down onto the table, facing the bar. He watched from under hooded eyes as she approached Justin. She tapped him on the shoulder. Almost immediately, he turned around, pulled her into his arms, and tried to kiss her. Ri, being used to handling him, turned her face just in time so he would hit her forehead rather than her lips. They began talking. Although Duo couldn't hear them, he could tell that he was spouting a load of poetic crap at her feet and she just wanted him to get the hell away from her. She managed to stop his speech and tried to convince him yet again that it wouldn't work. Justin started looking around again, and from the look on Ri's face he must have been talking about Re. Eventually, he spotted Noin sitting with the others and tried to join them. Ri tried to convince him to stop, but he took something she said the wrong way. He pulled her to him again, ignoring how she struggled. After touching her in a few places she REALLY didn't want to be touched, she screamed. At that point, Re jumped out from behind Duo and kicked Justin's legs out from under him. Ri untangled herself from him, and shook her sister's hand. Then, Justin picked himself up and started to make advances on both of them. That was it for Duo. It appeared to be enough for Wufei too. Though they were still swaying slightly, the two boys were still formidable. The two of them snuck up behind them, the girls too preoccupied to notice them.  
  
"Hey, Baka, what are you doing? I thought you didn't like women," whispered Duo.  
  
"I think they're weak, but I don't hate them. The way he treats them is disgusting. Even weaklings deserve to be treated with dignity. It's injustice. And you know how I hate seeing injustice." For what must have been the first time, the Chinese boy smiled at the American. Duo looked over the bar to Howard.  
  
"Hey, buddy. Could ya give us two beers? Doesn't matter what kind, but the bigger the bottle the better."  
  
Howard was just about to say he knew what Duo was planning and didn't want another fight, when they heard two loud yells and a scream. Startled, they stood suddenly to see Ri and Re pummeling the enamored young man.  
  
"No one, NO ONE TOUCHES ME THERE!!!!!" Ri yelled as she threw Justin onto a nearby table.  
  
Her sister caught up with him across the room and her blows punctuated her words. "You sick, punk, bastard! Go to hell!"  
  
Duo tapped Re on the shoulder. "Mind if I cut in again?"  
  
With a devilish smile, she replied, "Not at all. Have your way with him." Aside to Wufei, she added, "You know all that honor stuff you learned about fighting? I hereby give you permission to forget it."  
  
Wufei snorted. "I don't need your permission to forget it."  
  
Re shrugged. It was better than nothing. She crossed to her sister, who was still seething. "You okay? He didn't hurt you?"  
  
With a shaky sigh, she shook her head. "No. I'm alright."  
  
"Shall we let the boys have him or shall we join the fray?"  
  
"I think we've done the worst possible damage." Identical smiles lit their faces as they recalled a certain place where they'd both laid a crippling blow. Their evil laughter went unheard, because at that moment, the rest of the bar decided to join the random fight. Wood splintered, glass shattered, and the sound of flesh hitting flesh filled the room. People, bottles, and chairs flew through the air. The floor was slippery with spilt beer and blood. Justin was nowhere to be found, mysteriously enough. Duo and Wufei were standing next to each other, pummeling something lying on the ground, something that the twins assumed was Justin. Howard was cowering behind the bar as yet another one of the mirrors at his back was ruined. He knew there was no stopping a fight when Duo Maxwell and his friends were in it. It was simply better to let them have their ways and clean up the mess afterwards.after taking a certain percentage from their paychecks.  
  
Re and Ri artfully dodged the flying fists, feet, bodies and other random objects so they could get their last kicks in on Justin. They ducked just in time to miss Heero sailing over their heads. Justin practically ran into them. Their luck couldn't have been better. His, on the other hand, was crap. His usually handsome face was bloodied and bruised almost beyond recognition and his nose looked more than just a little crooked. His silk shirt was torn at the seams and the knee of his Armani pants was totally blown out. When he saw them coming, his eyes widened fearfully and he ran right out the door. They could hardly contain their humor. Re gasped, "That was worth it. Just seeing him like that was so worth it!"  
  
Ri laughed again. "Did you see his face? Just think about the bill he's going to have to pay his cosmetic surgeon to fix that one!"  
  
Her sister smiled evilly. "You're talking about his face, and I'm talking about something else entirely."  
  
That, of course, sent them back into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. Quatre peeked in the door, since the Maganac Corps had escorted him out of harm's way. "Is it safe?" he asked timidly.  
  
"Yeah, just about everybody's passed out. Except for us." Re replied.  
  
Duo's hand shot up from behind a pile of toppled and broken chairs. "We haven't passed out. We are victorious!"  
  
"Justice has been served." Wufei added, though his voice was soft and his words were slurred.  
  
"I'm not sure if that counts as safe." Rashid said doubtfully.  
  
"Oh, we would never hurt Kawaii. He's just too adorable. No one would hurt him, if they do we will hurt him," Ri assured him.  
  
Re patted him on the head. "We're just glad that you didn't get hurt."  
  
Wufei and Duo had finally managed to stand and wander over to the twins. "And what do we get for kicking this guy's ass from here to Timbuktu?"  
  
Ri smiled and kissed Duo on the cheek that wasn't bruising. "A kiss and our undivided attention for a whole."  
  
"Week?" the braided wonder said hopefully.  
  
"Week-end. We have work to do, remember?"  
  
"Damn."  
  
Re stood in front of Wufei, far enough away not to spook him, but close enough for them to hear each other. "And what do you want? I figure you don't want me kissing you."  
  
His tone was cold, distant, and his eyes were focused somewhere beyond her. "Nothing, onna. You owe me nothing. Justice has been served, and therein lies my reward."  
  
Re nodded. "Thank you anyway."  
  
He didn't reply, and she took his hand to help him, though she wasn't in much better shape. She didn't miss the wince he succumbed to at her touch. She dropped his hand, only to discover the blood. She snatched it back and he cried, "Hey! God damn it, onna, that hurts!"  
  
"I don't wonder why. You've got enough wood in your hand to build a ship with," she growled.  
  
It was true; there were splinters driven into the fleshy center of his palm, which she could only imagine hurt like the nine hells. She called back to Ri; "You'd better check your man for wounds. If these two are anything alike, he won't say anything."  
  
Ri glared at Duo, and he grinned sheepishly as she pulled off his shirt to see what caused the several holes in it. "It's nothing, I swear. Ri, where are you taking me.?"  
  
Re glared up at Wufei. "Why didn't you say anything?"  
  
"I don't want your help."  
  
"That doesn't mean that you don't need it. And you're getting it anyway," she returned.  
  
He stayed silent as she led him up to the room that Duo kept above the bar. Quatre was walking steadily, as he'd had the least amount of beer, but Trowa and Heero were being carried. They passed Ri bandaging Duo on the sofa, all the while Ri muttered about prideful men with heads like concrete. Re sat Wufei down in the kitchen, where she could have the best light. She had Wufei wash his hands while she got out the tweezers. He glared at her from the kitchen table as she worked. Damned onna just got mixed up in everything. She pursed her mouth as she studied his hand. And began her grotesque task. The pain was worse when he watched her pull the little daggers of oak from his flesh, so he asked her, "Who is this Justin, and why is he such a bastard?"  
  
She grinned and shook her head. "Such an apt description of him." She sighed and said, "Well, I imagine Ri is telling Duo the story, so I guess it won't hurt."  
  
The story? Oh, shit. Wufei thought.  
  
"Justin is a spoiled, rich brat who had fallen head over heels for Ri. He couldn't get her on his own, so he wanted to date me to get to her." She smiled, not looking up from her undertaking, and shook her head. "He really had me going there for a while, until I wizened up. Ri and I found out about his little scheme, publicly humiliated him and have been gone ever since. But, despite all that, he hasn't quite got the message and has been following us for months." With a light chuckle, she added, "Though I doubt he will anymore."  
  
Curiosity was killing him. "What did you do to humiliate him?"  
  
Re smiled broadly as she recollected the memory. "Ri and I set up this fiasco at a restaurant that he frequented, five-star, and we 'met' each other there, acted like he was cheating on us and made a big scene. Needless to say, they won't allow any of us in anymore. Not that either Ri or I want to go anyway."  
  
Wufei sighed as she finished. His hand was throbbing, but Re was applying something sticky to it that cooled it a bit. "If anything looks red or swollen in a couple of days, let me know."  
  
He stood up a bit stiffly, and she asked, "Is there anything else I can help with.?"  
  
"No. I'm fine."  
  
He started to walk to the bedroom when she called him back. His name had been said so softly that he wasn't sure he'd heard it. He stopped and looked back at her. She approached him slowly, uncertainly until she was right in front of him. She said, "Um." and then kissed him quickly on the mouth. She'd been so brief that it could barely be called a kiss. Then she retreated nervously and said, "Good night, Wufei."  
  
He stood there, stunned, and Re flushed and blew by him to go to her sister. Ri, however, was preoccupied. Very preoccupied. Re paused and smiled. They were sure as hell getting more action than she was. She cleared her throat and Ri jumped away from Duo, who looked highly disappointed. "Shall we get home?" Re suggested.  
  
Ri recovered from a blush that had stolen across her cheeks and nodded. "Sure." She paused for a minute. "Um, where are we going? We got here this morning and went straight to headquarters. I'd ask Noin, but I didn't see her. Something tells me we won't be seeing her or Zechs until morning."  
  
Re caught her drift. "So we're stuck here. Great." She turned to Duo. "Do you think Howard might have another room we can stay in?"  
  
"After this? No. Most of the guys that got beat up will be staying here because they're not up to driving. Umm." Duo looked at Wufei. Wufei knew what he was asking and to be quite honest, he didn't want the girls out of his sight just yet. What if that Justin freak came back, unlikely though it was?  
  
"You can stay here tonight. You can sleep in my bed and I'll take the sofa bed." The Chinese warrior turned to the linen closet to pull out some extra sheets. When he turned around, the girls were pulling out the sofa bed. Re turned to him. "Look, you saved our butts. You sleep in your own bed, and we'll take this."  
  
Wufei understood that she was doing this out of honor, and chose to let them have their way. He, more than most, understood the value of honor. He started to go to his room, but he remembered something that he had to say to Duo. Like stay in his room, not in the sofa bed with Ri. He could see Duo standing in the doorway of his room right next to his room with his mouth dropped open. The sisters were certain that the boys were in their rooms. So certain they stripped to their underwear right in front of them. Both boys were wearing dark colors, and most of the lights in the apartment were off. The girls weren't able to see their watchers. They watched them as they chatted in whispers, their slender, pale forms standing out in the dark room. The simple black cotton that Ri wore drove Duo up the wall. The violet-eyed boy grinned. She looked good in black. Real good. He was thankful it wasn't lace. Re on the other hand.  
  
The white satin edged with a little simple lace was making Wufei drool. That one article of clothing drove him up the wall. The high white cotton panties tempted him, making him want to pull them aside and see what she had hidden. But his honor stopped him. His honor, yes, but also his grief. He still hadn't forgotten, and it would take awhile for him to feel able to be with her. So he buried his passion, his want, and went to bed. He knew he wouldn't sleep much, but he had to get away from her.  
  
Duo soon went to bed too before his pounding heartbeat gave him away. 'Good night, Angel of Death. I look forward to seeing you when I wake up. This is going to be very interesting.' Then he cuddled into his warm bed, and drifted into sleep. For the first time since he had become a Gundam pilot, he had pleasant dreams. Dreams of a paradise, where a certain dark angel watched over him.  
  
  
  
Lady Lynnaya- Yeah, okay. (blushes)  
  
FireImp- You know you like how I set you up with Duo.  
  
Lady Lynnaya- I guess you had nothing better to do when we had that snow day.  
  
FireImp- Of course not. But what about that part when we're getting ready for bed?  
  
Lady Lynnaya- Pay back.  
  
Chibi-muse Heero- When do things start blowing up?  
  
LL( Lady Lynnaya)-Soon.  
  
Chibi-muse Quatre- Happy ending! (cries) It's so beautiful!  
  
Chibi-muse Wufei- INJUSTICE!! I DON'T WATCH ONNAS STRIP!!  
  
Chibi-muse Duo- Right. You just keep telling yourself that, hentai.  
  
Chibi-muse Wufei- ME A HENTAI!? YOU WERE RIGHT THERE NEXT TO ME!!  
  
Chibi-muse Duo- (Shrugs and starts flying laps around Lady Lynnaya's head)  
  
FireImp- Anyway, read and review. We love to hear what the people think of our work.  
  
Lady Lynnaya- (glomps Chibi-muse Duo) Yep. And I'll even keep my llama on a leash.  
  
Chibi-muse Trowa- (pets llama) . 


	3. Flying Fruit, Paperclips, and Memories

FireImp- Duo isn't a morning person is he?  
  
Chibi-muse Duo- (wings are crimped, loose hairs are sticking out everywhere and looks like living dead)  
  
Chibi-muse Quatre- (screams and hides behind LL)  
  
Chibi-muse Trowa- .  
  
Chibi-muse Wufei- (pretty much the same as Duo, except his hair is more wild and he's wearing a little bathrobe with holes in the back for his wings)  
  
Chibi-muse Heero- (using hairspray and a lighter to make a bonfire in the backyard)  
  
LL and FireImp- Read and enjoy! (all sit and pull bags of popcorn out of the extra-large pockets of Wufei's bathrobe)  
  
  
  
  
  
Duo only blinked at the clock blaring in his face before smacking it across the room. He rolled over. and landed on the floor with a loud thud. Then he remembered. He'd taken the couch last night.or maybe he just hadn't made it to the bed. No, this was the bed; he'd just been lying on the edge. Whatever, he was now thoroughly awake and his head throbbed. How much had he drunk at Howard's last night? He didn't recall drinking very much, but maybe it was the fight that had made his head hurt like hell. At the memory of the fight, his whole body started to hurt in various places, some of which he preferred not to think about. He wrapped a bathrobe around his bare chest and then winced at all the movement. He stumbled into the kitchen, and the welcoming scent of bacon made him smile despite all his aches and pains. Ri was standing at the stove, spatula in hand, and Re was mixing something in a large bowl, presumably pancakes. Ri looked.surprisingly well for the morning after a few pints and a bar fight. Neither of them had any visible marks on them from the fight, nor did they seem to be groggy. In fact, Ri seemed obnoxiously perky. He said, "G' morning, ladies," as he slid into a chair and let the table hold up his head.  
  
Ri turned at the sound of his voice and smiled. "Hi Duo! You feel up to breakfast? Or will a beer do for you?" She bounced up and down as she stood by the stove, flipping the bacon so it wouldn't burn. How could anyone be hyper so early in the morning?  
  
Duo lifted his head for an instant, "Both," he said as he succumbed to gravity once again.  
  
At that response and the tone in which it was said, Ri stopped and went to him. "Do you feel all right? You should go back to bed if you're sick."  
  
Her concern was touching, and Duo certainly didn't mind being taken care of by a beautiful young woman, especially not Ri. He briefly considered faking it just so he could get some more doctor-patient time in. But he figured she would catch him at it, so he just shrugged.  
  
Re said from the kitchen. "Ri, sometimes when he says 'both' he might mean that he just wants pancakes and bacon and beer."  
  
Ri blushed. "Yeah, well, um.yeah. Just let us know if you need anything." She bounced back to the stove. (Lady Lynnaya- I'm using the word 'bounce' to describe her a lot, but anyone who has seen me in hyper mode would agree that it's a very fitting word for me)  
  
"Is the coffee ready?" he mumbled.  
  
"Sure is. Help yourself. Ri and I have already had two cups." Re said mischievously.  
  
"Each?"  
  
Ri nodded, a bright light in her eyes. "Yep." She began bouncing around the kitchen as she tried to open another package of bacon.  
  
"Oh, God."  
  
Wufei entered then, shirtless, wiping his face with his hand. "I feel like I've been hit by a Mack truck."  
  
"We felt the same until Howard came up and gave us some kind of concoction and made us feel better. He's such a dear man," said Re.  
  
Duo nearly choked on his coffee when he heard Howard called 'dear', but Ri hadn't had her say.  
  
"He was so concerned about our welfare. He even checked if we had enough blankets and pillows and everything. He even supplied the coffee grounds for us." Ri said with an infuriatingly perky smile.  
  
"There wouldn't happen to be any of the curative left, would there?" Wufei asked.  
  
"I'm afraid not. But we have our own cures." Re said. Wufei looked skeptical. She opened a beer and handed it to him. "Drink this and take a hot shower for the bruises on your ribcage and your left shoulder. I bet they hurt."  
  
"Damn right, they do," he replied as he guzzled the beer.  
  
Re watched him for a moment, and then wondered if he remembered anything about last night, other than the fight. She almost hoped not. She'd made a complete fool of herself, kissing him like that. He'd probably had girlfriends far more sexy and experienced than her. She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts, and returned to the pancakes. Inspiration struck, and though it probably wasn't the wisest thing in the world to do, she added a few handfuls of chocolate chips to the batter. (FireImp: It's good stuff. And, just some food for thought, Re's hands are huge. Just like mine ^_^) Ri heard the familiar clatter of the little morsels of heaven clicking against the bowl, and she turned to her sister with an enormous smile on her face. Re smiled back, both knowing the consequences of combining coffee and chocolate in the older of the sisters this early in the morning. When the pancakes were golden brown, Re dished them out. Duo bit enthusiastically into his breakfast, alternating beer and pancakes. He smiled and said, "Chocolate.I love you guys."  
  
By this time, Quatre and Trowa had awakened and were sitting groggily at the table, their aching heads in their hands. They eyed their pancakes skeptically, but soon discovered that they were not poisonous, just outrageously chocolaty. Wufei took the longest. Being of a set mind and having set ideals about what could be served for breakfast and what couldn't, Re almost had to force-feed him the pancakes. He surrendered quickly, as Ri threatened to pound on his bruises until he cried, and grudgingly ate his first chocolate chip pancake.  
  
"They're not toxic, at least," he grumbled.  
  
Duo translated, "In other words, they're not bad, he's just not used to them."  
  
"I don't need a damned translator, Maxwell."  
  
Re cuffed him as she passed him to reach Quatre's plate. "You're grumpy on a regular basis, but you're worse when you've got a hangover."  
  
He glared at her as she passed by him again and dumped some more pancakes on his plate. The five pilots ate in near silence, and the sisters cleaned up the kitchen in cheerful chatter. Heero asked the others, "How do they do it? God damn them, I wish I felt as good as they did."  
  
"It's not their own doing. They have Howard on their side." Trowa said grimly before sipping his beer.  
  
Heero rolled his eyes. "That explains it."  
  
"Oh yes," Duo interjected, "I believe Ri used the term 'dear' to describe him."  
  
Theirs sounds of gagging and coughing was heard even in the kitchen above the roar of the dishwasher. Re and Ri peered around the doorway at them in confusion. Re said, "I didn't think they were that chocolaty."  
  
Noin's knock at the door brought a chorus of groans from the table. Ri opened it and said softly, "They're suffering from PMS."  
  
Duo said indignantly, "We are not!"  
  
"No, not that PMS. Post- morning syndrome." Noin explained.  
  
Trowa shook his head. "Please, just call it the morning after. There's too much confusion."  
  
Re subtly gestured for Noin to cover the red mark on her throat. Her flush was brief when the twins gave her identical knowing looks, and Noin amended it smoothly.  
  
"The conference room has, yet again, been rescheduled, and our place in line has been moved forward to Wednesday." She announced.  
  
Wufei asked, "What is causing all this moving with the schedules? This is ridiculous."  
  
Noin shrugged. "Either way, we can't discuss our plans until we are in the safety of that sound-proof room. Who knows, we frequent Howard's enough to have led Oz to bug this place."  
  
"You sound so paranoid. Wise, but paranoid," Re observed.  
  
The older sister sent a glare to the younger, and Re stuck out her tongue.  
  
"We'll meet at headquarters at 1500 hours on Wednesday. I expect all of you to be present.and sober." Noin added pointedly.  
  
Re and Ri giggled as they looked at the table full of barely half-awake Gundam pilots. Noin left and the twins recognized the subtle purr of Zechs' convertible's engine. They exchanged another knowing look and grinned. Re suddenly remembered something. "As soon as you guys are sober enough, could you go to the grocery store for us? There's not enough food to last us until Wednesday."  
  
"Yeah. There's only fruits and raw vegetables." Ri elaborated.  
  
"Rabbit food." Re supplemented.  
  
"Chick food," groaned Duo. Ri smacked him.  
  
"No junk food whatsoever." Ri continued.  
  
"We're doomed." Re said with a pleading look and woggle-eyes combo.  
  
Heero said, "All right, we'll go, as long as we get fed."  
  
Ri patted his head comfortingly. "You'll get fed. We promise."  
  
"And it'll be home-cooked. Ri and I happen to be excellent cooks." Re said with pride as she slung an arm across her sister's shoulders.  
  
"Can we get a nap first?" Duo begged.  
  
Ri kissed his forehead. "Certainly. Re and I will draw up a list."  
  
"They're going to need naps for this trip."  
  
The five boys returned to their beds, and the twins pasted a list on the front door for them. Then, they pulled out bandanas and tied back their hair. They found the cleaning supplies and began to work on the little apartment as much as they could. Wufei, Heero and Trowa were hopelessly light sleepers, so they avoided their rooms and cleaned Quatre's and Duo's. Ri found it endearing the way Duo snored ever so lightly in his sleep, and she snuck in a kiss. Re tsked from the doorway. "Seducing men while they sleep. Sister dear, that's entirely unnecessary. You're good enough to get them while they're awake. Now me on the other hand."  
  
Re didn't get to finish her statement. Ri smacked her with a goose down pillow, one of the heavy ones. Re landed gracelessly on her butt on the sofa. Ri stifled her laughter and bit her fist. "Oh shut up," her twin grumbled. "I know I'm clumsy."  
  
"Oh, if that's not the biggest lie of the century," Ri chuckled.  
  
The goose down pillow was airborne yet again and it landed squarely across Ri's abdomen. She fell back onto Duo's bed, and she froze. Duo twitched, muttered something, and glomped Ri to his chest. Re walked in on them and nearly fell over with her amusement. Ri whispered frantically, "Re! Don't just stand there, help me!"  
  
Re said mischievously, "No, never! Would I deprive Duo of such a lovely surprise when he first wakes up?"  
  
"YES!" Duo then decided to move his hand to hold her.chest. Ri blushed and looked pleadingly at her sister. Re had to take the pillow and bury her face in it to smother her laughter.  
  
"Oh, come on, admit it. You really don't want to move."  
  
"But. but. the others. Re!!"  
  
"Oh, fine."  
  
She gently moved Duo's arm over her sister's head and left the pillow with him so the change wasn't so noticeable. Duo rolled over with the pillow and snuggled deeper into the covers. Ri glared at her sister. "Just wait. I'll get you back."  
  
Re chuckled. "I'm certain you will. But I doubt you can rope Wufei into anything. He's too stubborn."  
  
"Just wait."  
  
The boys awoke not too long after, while Ri and Re were in the middle of a game of poker. The two girls were stony-faced, until Ri showed her sister her cards and Re grumbled, "That's the fifth time in a row."  
  
Ri gleefully smiled. "You just suck at poker."  
  
"I give up."  
  
Duo snagged the list off the door. "Is this it?"  
  
Ri nodded as she collected the cards. "Yep."  
  
The boys congregated at the door to pull on their shoes and Duo called, "We'll be back soon."  
  
The door swung shut, and Re muttered, "Don't count on it."  
  
The list was longer than they had expected. What on earth did those two need so much ramen for? Duo shook his head. He shouldered two giant bags of ramen into the cart and continued on. He found Wufei in the meat department, stacking steaks and chicken in his already full arms. Duo helped him settle the meat in the cart and commented casually, "Those two certainly are something."  
  
'Those two' didn't need clarification. Wufei grunted. "I suppose so." After a pause, he admitted, "You would've gotten an eyeful this morning had you seen them."  
  
Duo looked bemused. "I did see them. They looked fine."  
  
"No, before they were awake."  
  
Duo's expression quickly flashed to one of incredulity. "Wufei! You weren't spying on them, were you?"  
  
"No! I had to go through the front room to get to the bathroom. I'm not perverted, Maxwell. Besides, you did enough spying last night for the both of us."  
  
"You were ogling, too," the blushing American said defensively.  
  
Wufei wasn't listening. He remembered them easily enough, even through the gray early-morning haze combined with a hangover. The sheets had been tangled at their feet, kicked off and wrestled to the foot of the bed. Ri and Re were curled toward each other, resembling the symbol of Yin and Yang, one dark, one pale. Their eyelashes cast shadows on their checks, their faces deceptively peaceful and angelic. Their hair was loose and fanned across the pillow that their heads shared, glittering with an icy sheen in the morning light. They were both still in their undergarments, their long, muscled limbs hanging at odd angles off the edge of the bed. Duo surely would have been salivating, just as he had been. He wasn't ashamed to admit that Re was beautiful, but his attraction to her was unforgivable. Nataku was still so fresh in his mind, and the memory of her was still bright in his heart. The strongest woman in the clan, the warrior, the upholder of justice.Oh, God, how he still missed her. Even after all these years, the pain was still strong. He determinedly held back his tears of grief for her. Though he loved her, he was too proud to cry in a public place.  
  
Duo had remained silent during Wufei's meditation, knowing that the young Chinese man was thinking of his lost wife. In all honesty, he felt sorry for him, but that stick was shoved way up his ass, and it would take a serious medical procedure to remove it. He suddenly stopped at the doughnut aisle and loaded up on vanilla cream-filled ones. Quatre had just arrived and was checking off the items they'd already gotten. "Duo.doughnuts aren't on the list. Why are we getting so many?"  
  
"Because." --Duo paused before he blurted that Ri liked them-"I like these things. Besides, we have no dessert or breakfast items. We must have doughnuts!"  
  
Trowa shook his head in silence as he tossed the milk and juice into the cart. Heero hadn't yet come back from the endless aisle of alcohol and bread. Quatre was sent to drag him away from the beer.  
  
Meanwhile, Re and Ri were bored out of their minds. They had succumbed to watching the afternoon news channel after their creative juices completely drained. Little silver ornaments hung from the windows and adorned the boys' beds. Rough sketches of the Gundams and their pilots lay on dressers, in the pockets of shirts and pants, under pillows and other random places. Re had saved the best ones for herself. Ri had begun working on a chain mail tunic of paperclips. The television suddenly blinked off, the accursed result of a shortage in the outlet. Re yelled at the miscreant piece of technology, "Why do you hate me?!"  
  
She flopped onto the sofa in hopelessness. Ri sat to her right at the card table they'd abandoned long before. The coffee table in front of Re was nearly bare, except for Ri's exquisitely intricate little silver doily, a box of paperclips, a few pairs of jewelers pliers, and a bowl of grapes. Re picked a few juicy little grapes and popped them into her mouth. She tossed a handful of them at Ri, expecting them to land on the corner of the table, but her aim was off.depending on which way you looked at it. The grapes bounced off of Ri's bent head, and Re looked sheepish. Ri was forced to retaliate, naturally, and her grape nested in Re's hair. Re glared back at her sister, saw her expression, and they simultaneously dove for the grape bowl. They didn't collide, but instead in a coordinated move they each got a handful of grapes. Re took shelter behind the sofa, and Ri collected her paperclips and utensils before overturning the card table.  
  
Grapes sailed through the air, bouncing off windows and furniture. As soon as the grapes ran out, they were forced to seek other ammunition. Ri dashed into the dining room and found a decorative bowl of oranges and apples. Re found the ultimate artillery in the kitchen: bananas and a watermelon. She'd made a mistake in forgetting the cantaloupe that also resided in the dining room. It nearly bashed her nose in when it came flying through the doorway at her, but the watermelon served as a great block. She peeled the bananas rapidly, tossing both the parts at Ri. Apples split as they crashed against the refrigerator, leaving Re with more weaponry. Ri was just too good at dodging, so Re decided to take the fight straight to her. After opening the watermelon and grabbing a handful of the cold, seedy meat, she rushed her twin. She was successful for the most part. The meat slid satisfactorily down Ri's shirt, soaking the black low cut t-shirt. But Re was careless and ended up with a noseful of watermelon seeds. They finally started rolling around on the floor, squashing fruit everywhere, and wrestling. Thus was the state the apartment was in when the Gundam boys walked in.  
  
Quatre was speechless. Trowa's mouth hung open in shock. Heero looked at them in disgust. Duo looked at little worried. Wufei quirked a brow. "Did you not just clean this place?"  
  
"We got bored." Ri explained as she sat down hard on Re's chest.  
  
Re drew up her knee and booted Ri over her head. She fled behind the card table and armed herself with more watermelon. Ri stopped and grinned evilly at her sister. The boys were still frozen in shock, and Re's sudden change of targets was unexpected. The watermelon hit Heero and splattered, soaking Trowa and Duo in the process. Duo didn't hesitate; he entered the fray with the enthusiasm of a puppy and exacted revenge. Wufei was more reluctant to join, as well as Quatre, who thought that the kitchen was a neutral area. Mind you, he thought. The banana peel on the floor was classic. The twins almost couldn't believe the perfection that he performed that with. Trowa caught him though, and threw the peel at Duo, who was occupied with wrestling with Ri. Wufei had retreated to his room, but he hadn't locked the door. Re opened it and asked him innocently, "Don't I get a welcome home hug?"  
  
He looked her up and down. He had gone to his room because the sight of her in a drenched, white t-shirt had almost been too much for him. He harshly suppressed his passion and replied coldly, "Not with sticky juice all over you. You're drenched in it."  
  
True, she was soaked in it. The pale shirt clung to her, as did Ri's to her, but Re figured her twin would be without it sooner or later. Re smiled when she surprised him with a flying glomp. His shirt was officially just as drenched as hers was. She dragged him out into the front room and back into the madness. She couldn't quite discern how Ri had managed to get Duo's shirt off, but she'd done it. She was laughing too hard to notice Wufei behind her with a halved cantaloupe in his hands. The orange meat was tangled in her hair when he was done. Re reveled in it; Wufei had never shown any inclination to let go and play, but he sure as hell was now. He picked up oranges that had managed to survive and was taking very accurate shots at Trowa and Heero. Duo was always playing, there was never a moment when he wasn't. As of that moment, he was licking watermelon from Ri's bared shoulder. Trowa and Quatre were in control of the armaments in the kitchen and considerably drier than anyone else. Yes, even Heero had gotten hit with a variety of fruits. But, as everyone discovered, mutiny was a wonderful thing. The five to two ratio was very unfair, but it wasn't fair that they had all the fruit, was it?  
  
Eventually, all of the fruit were too smashed to throw and everyone was all sticky from the juice. By this now, it was almost time for dinner. Ri and Re took one look at each other, looked at the guys collapsed on the floor, and raced each other to the shower. Re won, and Ri kicked the boys into gear. While they brought in the groceries and put them away, Ri cleaned up the wreckage from their mini-war. When Duo went into his room to get some clean clothes, he saw the little charms Ri had made hanging all over the place. He grinned. He knew then and there that he wouldn't remove any of them. They were so pretty, and Ri had made them herself. That alone made them worth keeping. He sat on his bed and look at them as they danced in the breeze formed by the air vents. He felt special. She had decorated his room with things she had made herself. He laughed at himself. What would the others say if they found out that he, the God of Death, was a hopeless romantic? Still, he admired her work and felt as if she had done it just for him. Heero was passing by when he saw the lamplight shining off the metal.  
  
"So, she did it to your room, too." Duo snapped back to reality.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.  
  
"Ri hung charms in all of our rooms. You should see Wufei trying to get them off his ceiling fan. He can't figure out how she got them up there in the first place." After having finished destroying Duo's fantasy, he began to leave. He stopped by the door and called over his shoulder, "Oh, be careful to check all of your pockets before you put them in the wash. Apparently Re got quite bored too." Once Heero was gone, Duo started to look around his room. It was a lot cleaner than it had been that morning, so he guessed that one of the girls had cleaned it while he had been taking his nap. He did a quick sweep of the room, picking up all of Re's pictures and putting them in a drawer in his desk as he went. He managed to get all of them, wondering where she had gotten a picture of his Gundam. Noin was the most likely source. He lay back on his bed and looked at his ceiling. He sighed, though disappointed that Ri hadn't done it just for him, he was happy that he know had little reminders of her beauty all over his room. He soon drifted into a shallow slumber.  
  
Wufei was having a lot of trouble getting all of Ri's charms off the blinds. He had gathered all of Re's pictures and had put them in a folder. He hoped that none of the others discovered that he had decided to keep the folder under his pillow. He loved the pictures Re had made of him and his Gundam. He looked at them, amazed at how well she drew them, even in a rough sketch. His mind drifted back to last night and that morning. He sighed, the pictures so beautiful in his mind's eye. He shook his head. I can't be thinking such thoughts. Forgive me, Nataku. He missed his wife dearly, and in a way he felt responsible for her death. If only he had protected her, if only he had been kinder to her, if only he hadn't taken her for granted. There were so many if only's that they overwhelmed him. He liked Re, he couldn't deny his feelings, but he still felt a sense of duty for his lost wife. In a moment of passion, grief, and confusion, he kneeled beside his bed, lowered his head, and folded his hands in his lap. He began to speak a silent prayer to the spirit of Nataku. "Please, Nataku, if you believe this girl and I are meant for each other, send me a sign. I refuse to forget you, but with your permission I will carry on. Please, my wife, send me a sign, yes or no, so I may have peace of mind and heart." With that said, he stood up. He felt very tired all of a sudden, probably from the emotional strain he was under. He lay down to take a nap before dinner.  
  
He was back at the church. Duo looked around. He must be dreaming, there was no way he could really be there. In his dream, he saw Sister Helen and the girl that had always been his friend. For some reason, Ri made him think of her. Come to think of it, Noin had looked a bit familiar the first time he had seen her. He couldn't figure it out. Suddenly, the little girl wasn't little any more. Instead, Ri stood there before him, wearing all black. Tight black jeans, tight low cut black shirt, and silver jewelry hanging from her neck and throat. 'The Angel of Death' he thought as he looked at her. She certainly looked the part right there. She held a scythe, much like the one on his Gundam but smaller. Black bird wings sprouted from her back, and her hair flowed around her in a chocolate brown cloud. She looked behind her and held out her hand. There stood the Duo of ten years ago, when he had last seen her. Before his eyes the small boy turned into the young man he was today. He was also dressed in black, from his tight leather pants to the loose cotton shirt. Black bat sprouted from his back, and he too, held a scythe. 'The God of Death and his angel,' he thought, thousands of thoughts running through his mind. Then, he was back in the alley with the little angel girl and Solo. They were talking, laughing, and swapping stories like they always had. The girl had spoken of her sisters rarely, but he remembered her mentioning a twin once. They all knew she avoided talking about them because she knew the rest of them didn't have any families. Memories began to swirl in his head. Thoughts popped up, burst, and faded away. Things were beginning to click. The resemblance between the girl he remembered and Ri, the déjà vu he had felt when he met Noin, why he felt so strongly for Ri though he met her just yesterday. It dawned on him. Ri must be her. There was no other possible reason. He woke with a start, remembering everything he had dreamed. He wanted, no, needed to find out if she was the one. But how did he ask her? He thought of a way, and then decided to go see how dinner was coming.  
  
Wufei woke up to hear Ri screaming and Duo laughing. He quickly decided to go assist the distressed onna, since Duo was probably molesting her. Instead, he restrained himself from laughing so he could enjoy the moment longer. Ri had a foot on Duo's chest and was beating him over the head with her thick-heeled shoe. "Stay away from the food Duo! We've got to save some for everybody else! You pig!" (FireImp: FEAR THE SHOE!!!)  
  
Re was trying very hard to concentrate on the food in the oven, but even from this distance he could see her shoulders shaking. Whatever it was, it smelled heavenly. He slipped past the arguing couple and touched Re's shoulder. She turned, her eyes alight with humor and her smile dazzling. She stunned him for a moment, but he actually said what he'd meant to without sounding dazed. "What poison are you cooking up, onna?"  
  
"Cyanide, why do you ask?" Re replied in all seriousness.  
  
"I was being sarcastic. What are you really cooking?"  
  
"Ramen and steak with a side of sautéed veggies." She said matter-of- factly. "Ri was working on the steak, but um." she chuckled. ".she got sidetracked."  
  
He grinned. "So it seems she did. Would you like help?"  
  
Re tried to hide her shock. Wufei was offering to help her cook? He knew how to cook? (FireImp: Scary thought.) She nodded and said, "Sure. The marinade's in that dish and we've been brushing it on occasionally as we turn it."  
  
He nodded his affirmation and watched the steak with an eagle eye. Ri was playfully wrestling Duo in the front room.and winning. It certainly had to be a blow to his pride, but then again, he probably just liked having Ri on top of him. Re smiled at her own joke and shook her head. Those two were simply hopeless. But they were just so cute together she couldn't blame them for their playing. Wufei was doing a good job of making sure the steak didn't burn. He was certainly meticulous, but it wasn't a bad thing. When it smelled just right, she turned off the oven and began cutting it into small cubes and mixing it into the ramen. She added beef broth and let it simmer. She wiped her forehead with the back of one hand. "Well, that does it for now. This'll simmer for about a half an hour and then we can eat."  
  
Only a hour or so later, it was gone. It had been delicious, and the twins had lived up to their claim of being excellent cooks. They talked about everything after dinner and they all helped clean up. (FireImp: Oh yeah, don't we wish we could really get people to do that.) They resolved to sleep in the next morning, as everyone was tired from their extensive playing that afternoon. The girls waited until all the guys were secure in their rooms and they slid into bed. Ri sighed. "God, I just can't get over how hot Duo is."  
  
Re laughed at her sister. "That was perfectly random. But yeah, I guess he's cute."  
  
"No, not cute; hot. I don't know whether it's the hair, the eyes, or the combo of the two. You know I'm a sucker for dark haired guys with blue eyes," Ri corrected.  
  
"Whatever."  
  
Ri smiled mischievously. "And what about Wufei? You think he's 'cute' or is he hot?"  
  
Re rolled her eyes. "Don't even think about trying to play matchmaker. Last time you did, it was disastrous. I hope you haven't forgotten about David."  
  
"Stop avoiding the question."  
  
With an exasperated sigh, Re admitted, "Okay, he's gorgeous. Slightly bent out of shape, but gorgeous. Sometimes I want to dump a bucket of water over his head and just stand there and drool."  
  
Ri laughed uproariously at that confession. "That's priceless! You should do that one day. It'll completely knock him off his feet."  
  
"Duo wouldn't look half bad wet either."  
  
"No, he wouldn't." Ri smiled and laughed. "I'm going to get him one of these days with a bucket of water, laugh and then drool."  
  
"He would get revenge." Re warned.  
  
"You think I mind? I'll make sure I'm wearing a white shirt when he does it."  
  
They laughed together and stifled their giggles when they heard a box spring squeak. They rolled over that night and fell asleep, one dreaming of a shirtless, braided American and another dreaming of a drenched Chinese boy.  
  
The next morning, the girls awoke promptly at eleven o' clock. They showered, dressed and brewed coffee. An hour later, none of the boys had shown hide or hair of themselves. Re and Ri decided to amend that.  
  
Ri tiptoed into Duo's room, quiet and graceful as a cat. He was dead to the world. She swallowed a chuckle and blew a breath on his hair. He twitched. Ri devilishly backed up from the bed, and with a running start, pounced on the unsuspecting prey. Duo was awake in a flash, tossing his enemy off of him and onto the floor. Ri protested, "Ow.Duo, that hurt!"  
  
After blinking the sleep from his eyes, he said, "Damn it, I thought you were an Oz soldier.I'm sorry, Ri, are you okay?"  
  
She pouted and said, "Maybe."  
  
Duo smiled roguishly at her. "What me to kiss you and make it better?"  
  
She grinned. "Damn straight, boy."  
  
It was brief and sweet, and just as playful as always. Duo smiled and asked her, "Feel better yet?"  
  
Ri looked thoughtful. "I don't know.maybe I will if you kiss me again."  
  
Needless to say, when Re peeked in to ask if Duo wanted waffles or French toast, she turned tail and ran. She decided that it really didn't matter, so she just started making waffles. No one else was awake yet either, and she checked on Wufei while the first one cooked. He was also dead to the world, which was a surprise, as he was usually such a light sleeper that he would've heard her coming into his room. She smiled and sat on the edge of his bed. His face was smooth and untroubled in sleep, apparently the only time when he wasn't frowning. She reached out to touch his unbound hair, but pulled back before she risked awakening him with such a shock. Re hadn't expected the mattress to slide off the bed, or be dumped in the floor.with a sleeping Wufei on her. Not that she minded having a muscled, handsome and utterly sexy guy on top of her, but that wasn't the point. Ri came from around the opposite side of the bed with a triumphant smile on her face. At her sister's distressed expression, she chided, "Come on, admit it. You really don't want to move."  
  
Re glared at her gloating sister. "I hate it when you make me eat my words."  
  
"But it's so much fun! And words are so tasty when they're served as a cold dish called revenge."  
  
"Ri.please?"  
  
Ri shook her head gleefully. "Nope. Not 'til you admit it."  
  
"That's not fair!"  
  
"All is fair in love and war, sister dear."  
  
"Damn it, okay, no, I don't want to move. Happy?"  
  
"Perfectly." Ri smiled and started out the door. "I guess I'll leave you two love birds alone now since you don't want to move."  
  
"RI!!!"  
  
She laughed and said, "I'm just kidding with you. Here, help me lift him up."  
  
Re pushed up on his chest, and Ri pulled from behind. They settled him back in bed and Re said, "You know, this solved absolutely nothing."  
  
"Oh, yes it did. I got my revenge."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Shut up."  
  
"Okay, I'll leave you now to wake up Prince Charming over there.without dumping you in the floor."  
  
Re bowed and said sarcastically, "Oh, thank you. Your generosity is overwhelming."  
  
Ri tossed her a grin as she walked out. "Don't I know it?"  
  
Re smiled and shook her head. Wufei was still asleep. Amazing what a fruit salad war will do to a regular schedule. She touched his shoulder and whispered, "Wufei.Chang Wufei.time to wake up. It's after noon."  
  
Wufei blinked awake, and looked up at the young woman at his bedside. His eyes shot open and he sat up, and said, "Nataku?"  
  
The woman's voice sounded dejected. "No. It's Re. Breakfast is ready."  
  
She drifted away, leaving him cold and alone. Re fought back tears. God damn it all, he had a girlfriend. But...he'd said nothing, even when she flirted outrageously with him. He should've told her to back off or something. She could almost hear him saying it: 'Re, stop it. Your pathetic attempts at seduction are useless. I have someone, someone who means more than the world to me. Stay away.' Even imagined, the words hurt, like someone had clutched her heart with taloned hands and was twisting it. Ri and Duo were chatting amicably in the kitchen, and she swiped at her eyes before plastering on a smile and checking the waffle in the iron. Ri didn't buy it for a minute. "Re, what's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing. I'm.just a tired, that's all." Re said with a conviction that somehow rang false.  
  
Ri was genuinely concerned about her twin. There was something more than 'just tired' and she knew it. One twin could never hide something from the other sister. She said, "Go on, I'll take care of breakfast." She said in an undertone, "We'll talk later."  
  
Re didn't want to talk; she just wanted to be alone. So she accepted the offer, and shuffled toward Duo's empty room. She closed the door behind her and fell into the bed. Wufei was moving and banging around in his room next door, and Re swallowed another flood of tears. If she thought about him enough, she could almost smell him permeating through the wall. She curled up and tried to sleep, hoping that the rest would bring her some peace.  
  
Ri fretted the entire afternoon. She'd gone in and checked on her sister numerous times, and only found her to be asleep. It was unusual to say the least, Re sleeping in so late. But she let her be, wondering what could have upset her so much. And of course, Ri's worries worried Duo. She was flitting, wide-eyed and entirely too troubled. The boys had finally been urged to go down to Howard's so they could relax. At almost five o' clock that evening, Re was finally awake. Ri closed the door softly behind her. "Okay. Tell me what's going on, or I'll go insane."  
  
Re sat up in bed and hugged herself. Ri sat next to her and put an arm around her. She said shakily, "Wufei's got a girlfriend."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
Re's voice was dead, monotonous and flat. "When I woke him up this morning, he said, 'Nataku.' I don't know why he didn't say anything; I wouldn't have gone after him if I'd known."  
  
Ri exploded, "I'M GOING TO KILL THAT KISAMA!!!!"  
  
Re pleaded, "Don't say anything to him. He doesn't have to know. Besides, I'm crying, so that makes me a weak onna, right?"  
  
"No, Re, that just makes you a baka." She tilted her sister's face to hers. "You never cry over idiot men, remember?"  
  
Re smiled, if a bit weakly. "Right." She chuckled. "Idiot men is right."  
  
An identically bright smile lit Ri's face. "That's the spirit." Ri suddenly remembered something Duo had said once. "Re, Wufei doesn't have a girlfriend."  
  
"But he said the name as if." said Re, mopping her face with a tissue.  
  
"I don't remember everything, but Duo said something about Wufei having been married but his wife died. I can't remember her name, but Nataku rings a bell."  
  
"So it's not his girlfriend, it's his dead wife?"  
  
"Apparently. From what Duo had implied, they didn't really start getting along until right before she died. It hit Wufei pretty hard, so hard he still has trouble with women even though it was four years ago."  
  
"So all this time he was mourning his wife, and I've been hitting on him and dragging him into things and basically being an insensitive bitch," said Re, finally seeing why Wufei has so much trouble having fun. She would too if she were still in grief. Re was giving herself a serious putdown session when Ri slapped her and grabbed her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes.  
  
"Listen, since we showed up, he's smiled at least three times. And it isn't Duo, or Trowa, or any of the others putting that smile on his face. I don't think it's me, either. That only leaves one person, Re. You. Because of you he's started smiling again. From what I've heard from Duo, he's never been this loose. Remember the fruit fight?" Re looked down at her feet. How could she forget? He seemed to actually enjoy himself, pelting all of the rest of them with oranges. Re had to admit, she had been seeing his smile come more and more easily. She began to feel uncomfortable. Could she actually be making the human ice-burg melt? She decided to change the subject, something that Ri wouldn't be able to avoid.  
  
"So, how's the search coming?" Ri tilted her head, confused. Re sighed and elaborated. "You know, for that guy you knew back in the church when Noin and I lost you on that colony? Have you gotten any leads yet? The other day it seemed as if you had something."  
  
Ri chewed on her lip. How could she say this? She decided to go for her usual way. Straight forward. "I think I've found him."  
  
Re's eyes lit up. She glomped her sister so hard they both fell onto Duo's bed. "Yay! I knew you would find him some day! So when do I get to meet him? Last time all I saw was him peeking around the corner when Noin and I went to pick you up. Where is he? Do you know if he's single? What name is he going by?" Re continued to shoot out questions until Ri sat down on the bed and her eyes filled with tears. She pulled her knees up to her chest and let her hair conceal her face. Re, worried, sat down beside her. She made a little trilling noise, and put her hand on Ri's elbow. When Ri lifted her head, Re saw a giant smile spread across her face.  
  
"He's downstairs, he just broke up with his girlfriend two weeks ago, and he's going by the name Duo Maxwell." Ri fell back on the bed and spread out her arms. "He hasn't changed much. Not much at all." She sat up and looked at Re. "I recognized him pretty quickly, but hid it." She was about to say more when Re tackled her and started shaking her.  
  
"BAKA! Why haven't you said anything to him?! You've had a crush on this guy for more than half your life, been looking for him for the past ten years, and you don't tell him you remember him?! I knew you were a ditz, but I thought you weren't stupid." Ri sat very calmly through Re's rant. When Re was done, she noticed something odd about the look in Ri's eyes. "Ri? What's wrong?"  
  
"I have my reasons for not saying anything," she said as she slid off the bed and went to look out the window. "One, he doesn't seem to know who I am. Either he didn't recognize me, or he doesn't remember me. Both of the two are pretty likely. There's nothing about me that makes me that memorable, and girls tend to change more than guys over the years." She crossed her arms across her chest, something that had increased substantially in size since the last time she had seen him. "Second, I'm not entirely sure he's the right guy. I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of him. Even if he's not the Duo I knew long ago, he's still hot and I want to at least have a small chance with him."  
  
"One thing, woman. How are you going to figure out if he's the one or not?"  
  
"Leave that to me. There are a few things only he would know and I know just how to make them slip. If I do this right and I get the right answers, I'll know that it's him. If not, I'll just have to keep looking." With that, she turned away from the window and pulled Re off the bed. "Let's go downstairs. I'm sure the guys are wondering what's wrong. Act natural, don't tip Duo off to anything. Okay?" Re nodded and the two girls changed into more 'comfortable' clothes and headed down to the bar. This time they would be more careful about how much they drank.  
  
  
  
  
  
LL- Cliffhanger!  
  
Chibi-muse Heero- Where are the explosions?!  
  
FireImp- They'll be coming shortly. There's still a few things we have to get through first.  
  
Chibi-muse Quatre- This is chapter was sad. (cries and glomps Trowa) Why do things have to be sad?  
  
Chibi-muse Wufei- WEAK BAKA! Sadness is a part of life, as is grief and anger.  
  
Chibi-muse Duo- And hot chicks. (Glomps LL, who glomps him back and gives him a plate of blueberry pancakes)  
  
LL- The llama has decided to make more pancakes, and is expanding into muffins. Read and review for blueberry baked goods and clever llama gymnastics.  
  
Chibi-muse Trowa- (watches llama do flips and tries to teach it new tricks)  
  
FireImp- Anyway, yeah. Read and review. 


	4. Secrets and Reunions

Chibi-muse Duo- (flying in crazy circles above LL and FireImp's heads, singing the theme song from Ranma 1/2)  
  
Chibi-muse Heero- (still trying to make a bonfire in the backyard with hairspray and a lighter)  
  
Chibi-muse Trowa- (on a desperate search for a fire extinguisher in case Heero actually does set the backyard on fire)  
  
Chibi-muse Quatre- (making ramen for dinner while wearing a little apron that says 'Kiss the chibi')  
  
Chibi-muse Wufei- (sharpening his swords and making little practice dummies that look like Duo)  
  
FireImp and LL- (holding up signs) Whatever keeps them happy and occupied.  
  
LL- (on a sign) We need to find them some better hobbies.  
  
FireImp- (sign) No kidding.  
  
Llama- (makes pancakes and blueberry muffins while watching a 'how to do gymnastics' video)  
  
  
  
The Gundam boys were innocently sitting at the bar when their eyes took a short flight across the room. Re and Ri had changed into their party clothes (tight stuff) and Ri had managed to get make-up on Re. They weren't wearing much make-up, just enough to accent their key features. Wufei looked at Re, and his gaze was instantly drawn to her eyes. What had Ri done to make them appear so much deeper? Duo was thinking the same thing about Ri's. eyes. Tonight Ri wore a tight, short black skirt and a burgundy tank top accented with gold earrings and a pendant that was brass wire wrapped around a hunk of amber. Re wore her usual jeans and a white sweater she had gotten at a Ren fair with a fluorite crystal dangling from her one pierced ear. Ri slide into a chair next to Duo and Re flying glomped Quatre.  
  
"Kawaii, come dance with me, pretty please?" The innocent blond looked at her with that deer-caught-in-headlights look on his face. He looked at Rashid, who shrugged, and Quatre gulped and slowly nodded his head. She dragged him from his chair, and walked arm-in-arm with him right past Wufei toward the dance floor. He looked up at them as they passed, trying to suppress the urge to go ask her to dance with him. She seemed to be ignoring him, which bothered him. Usually she was doing her damnedest to get him to go out and have fun. Had Maxwell told her? If he had, he would regret it. He went over to Duo and pulled him away from the table.  
  
"Have you told Re about Nataku?" he said to Duo after they had reached an empty corner.  
  
"I told Ri, but not Re. And I didn't even really tell her that much. Why?"  
  
"The onna is ignoring me."  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"Nothing!"  
  
"If Re is ignoring you, than you must have done something."  
  
"I don't know! I woke up this morning, and I had been dreaming about Nataku, so of course I imagined that she was Nataku.."  
  
"You didn't call her Nataku, did you?"  
  
"Yeah, why?"  
  
"You idiot."  
  
"What!?"  
  
"Isn't it obvious? Look, she obviously has a crush on you. I don't need her sisters to tell me that. It's written all over her face. You know how Ri was all worried all day? And how Re slept in so late? I think you're why. She probably thinks you have a girlfriend or something and you're just letting her flirt with you to boost your ego. You never call a woman by another woman's name, especially if that girl has a crush on you. It causes some major issues. Trust me."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Just trust me. I've known more women than you have."  
  
"So what should I do?"  
  
"Go dance with her and tell her what's going on. Once she knows what you've been through, I'm sure she won't be upset." Duo looked out to the table and began to watch Ri as she flirted very openly and very heavily with Quatre, who blushed and did his best to flirt back. The Maganacs were giving him hints under their breath in Arabic so Ri wouldn't understand. "Women are amazing creatures. You never know what secrets they have hidden within them." (LL-FORESHADOWING! Bum-bum-bum.)  
  
Quatre was a classy dancer, not a happy, I-have-no-idea-what-I'm- doing dancer like Re and Ri; he spun her on the dance floor in a high-paced waltz. Re was having trouble not tripping over her own feet, and not stepping on poor Quatre. She'd never learned how to waltz, much less do anything more than move her feet and shake her hips. She finally pleaded exhaustion and allowed Ri to try her hand at waltzing. She ordered a lager, and drank deeply from the bottle. Wufei sat down next to her, snagged her beer and stole a swallow from it. She only looked vaguely surprised at him. "Help yourself, Wufei." At the depth of his gaze on the bottle, she asked him, "What's the matter? Bad day?"  
  
He shook his head, and offered no explanation. He was thinking of his dream last night, so powerful and realistic that he'd awakened with Nataku's name on his lips. They'd been in that meadow again, with him sitting next to her, and Nataku leaning heavily against him, slowly dying. She'd looked up at him, smiled and murmured, "You know, Wufei, I love you, but.I have a feeling that we're.not doomed exactly, but just not meant to be. Do you understand?"  
  
He remembered feeling bewildered. "Nataku.what're you saying?"  
  
Nataku suddenly gained the strength to support herself and look him in the eyes. "There is another life for you. Maybe not with me, but with someone else." Her eyes flickered unexpectedly, and he reached for her, but she fell away from his grasp, and she dissolved into the bed of flowers. That was when he'd awakened, giving explanation for saying her name. He said gently, "I have something to tell you, Re."  
  
Re turned to face him, concern written all over her face. She knew what he was going to tell her, but it was his to tell, and she wasn't going to interrupt. "I think we should go.some where private."  
  
Re obliged, not wanting to scare him off or usurp the sincerity of the situation. They found a small empty storage room. He closed the door behind him, and Re sat on a box. He stood before her, not looking at her, but talking softly. "I had a wife, Nataku, a few years ago, when I was fourteen." At her shocked expression, he explained, "That was our way, and it still is. Nataku wanted nothing to do with me. She was a fighter, I was a scholar; complete opposites. When the Alliance attacked, she didn't hesitate to jump into a mobile suit and protect her family and home." His eyes were deep, gazing far into the distance, as if the past lay there and he was drawing the story from it. "She took the fight into outer space, to spare the flowers in my meadow. She knew I loved that meadow, and she risked her life. just for that. She wasn't strong enough to pilot the suit in space, so I activated the Shenlong Gundam and went after her. She fought bravely and ended the battle, but her mobile suit failed, and she was fatally injured. Her only request of me was that I take her back to our colony, to the meadow." His voice was softer, almost unintelligible, but Re was too rapt not to hear it. "I carried her there, and sat with her, and we talked. And for the first time, there was some affection between us." The way his voice strained against tears almost made her cry, but she withheld them. "And she died there, in my arms, the strongest warrior even then."  
  
He hadn't heard her get up or come over to him, but suddenly she was there, touching his face tenderly, soothing him, begging him with her eyes to let her comfort him. And he did. He dissolved into his tears and she held him, whispering to him and stroking his hair. Re almost succumbed to her own tears, but she knew that that wouldn't help Wufei at all. She couldn't quite hug him close enough to her, but if she held him any tighter or closer, he would probably suffocate. She kissed his temple and whispered, "Wufei.I'm sorry, God, I'm so sorry.but I'm here, and I love you.please don't cry, baby."  
  
He stopped, and took a deep breath. He took her hand that was cradling his head and kissed her palm. He held it to his cheek and murmured roughly, "Thank you. For listening and understanding." He paused before he finished. "And for loving me."  
  
She hadn't realized that she'd revealed that little piece of trivia. She felt mortified for only a second before she found that he didn't appear to mind, and that it seemed to help. She'd been so moved by his story that she'd just poured out everything in her heart for him to examine. He pressed his head against her shoulder and sighed. "You know, I love you too."  
  
They sat together for a moment, then decided to go back out before anyone got the wrong idea. Re went to sit next to Trowa, and futilely tried to start a conversation. She ended up falling asleep on his shoulder, while Trowa just sat quietly sipping his tea after draping his jacket over her shoulders. He didn't think Wufei would be happy if he let her catch a cold.  
  
Ri decided to let Quatre off the hook and went over to Re, who had fallen asleep again, this time leaning on Trowa. Ri took Trowa's place, gave him his jacket back and also fell into a light slumber. The two sat side by side, the resemblance was remarkable. Hours later, it was closing time. Howard always let the people who lived over the bar stay late, and at the time the Gundams were the only ones there. Ri and Re were still asleep at the table. The guys had gone to the other side of the room so they wouldn't disturb the girls. Duo had filled the guys in on the fact that Ri was possibly an old friend of his, but he didn't go into much detail. He didn't like talking about his past. The only one who knew the whole deal was Wufei, and that was only because Duo had had a nightmare while he was sharing a room with Wufei and had been talking in his sleep. Naturally, Wufei had wanted to know what Duo had been talking about and had threatened to cut off his braid while he slept if he didn't explain. After that Wufei had explained about Nataku, just in case he began talking in his sleep and to keep things fair. Plus, he knew if he started talking about a woman, the braided baka would get the wrong idea, as usual. The others knew little to nothing about the pasts of either of the two boys.  
  
Suddenly, a loud crash came from the other table. Ri and Re had fallen out of the chair and both seemed to be having the same nasty nightmare. They were yelling for someone to stop, about how much they hurt, how they wanted to get away. Duo and Wufei were the first ones by their side. They tried to shake the girls awake. The girls hit them rolled away, and only then did they seem to get a hold on where they were. Ri looked very shaken and Re was on the verge of tears. Noin had been on her way inside when she heard their yelling and had rushed to her sisters. When they caught sight of Noin they ran into her arms and both fell apart. Ri was sobbing loudly and Re was clinging to them, trying not to cry to loudly. The boys were very confused, worried, and they all wanted to see if they could help. When they approached, Noin shook her head, signaling for them to stay away. She began murmuring to her sisters, trying to comfort them and stop their tears. Eventually they stood and went to the bathroom to wash their faces. They looked terrible. Their make-up was all smudged and their eyes were all red. As soon as the door of the bathroom was closed, Noin pulled the guys to the corner farthest away from the bathroom and began talking to them in a low whisper.  
  
"I know all of you are worried, but please leave them alone. You couldn't possibly understand what they've been through and I don't want any of you to make things worse for them. It happened many, many years ago but they still get nightmares from it. Whatever you do, avoid the subject if you can."  
  
"Miss Noin, but how can we not make things worse if we don't know what to avoid?" said Quatre.  
  
"The weakling has a point. How can we avoid a bad subject if we don't know what the subject is?"  
  
Noin sighed, extremely reluctant to reveal the secret of her and her sisters. She pulled them into a tight group and began to explain. "When we were young, all three of us, we were abused by our father." She paused while to let it sink in. "He didn't abuse us sexually, though he did try a few times but our mother stopped him. He was abusing her too, but she would stand up to him whenever he tried something like that. I was older, and I was able to get out before they did. I ran away when I was eight. Mom and Dad didn't bother to try to find me. Mom figured I was better off out of that house and Dad was happier that there was one less mouth to feed and one less person to fuck things up. I figured I would join the military and come back for them when I could support them. They were only four then. They used to hate each other, especially after I left."  
  
"But how could that be? They're practically joined at the hip," said Duo, who was the first to recover from the shock.  
  
"Dad would pit them against each other. Ri would get beaten for not being like Re, and vice versa. He wanted them to be identical. He would yell at Ri because her eyes were brown and ugly, not pretty and green like Re's. He would yell at Re because her skin wasn't the pretty olive color Ri's was. And those are just some of the appearance issues he picked on. They still think that the other is more beautiful than they are. Neither Ri or Re could satisfy him and they were both harshly punished for it. They didn't stop hating each other until the night Dad pulled a knife on them."  
  
"What happened?" asked Wufei.  
  
"He was eating a steak, which Re had cooked. It wasn't tender enough for him, so he turned on Re with the knife. He was about to stab her with it when Ri tackled him. She hated Re, but not enough that she wanted her dead. Dad slashed Ri's leg and threw her against the counter next to the table. Before he could do anything worse to her, Re hit him with a metal baseball bat and knocked him out cold. He didn't cut Ri very deeply. She has a scar, but it's very faint. It's just that the cut started on her hip and ran all the way down to her ankle. On top of that, she cut her forehead on the counter. You know that scar over her right eyebrow? That's how she got it."  
  
"That scar's huge! You can still see where the stitches were!" said Quatre.  
  
"I know. Ri was bleeding very heavily from her head, and her leg was bleeding a lot, too. Re somehow managed to get Ri to a hospital before she bled to death, and as soon as Ri could walk they ran away from there and never looked back. This was when they were about five or six. Since the moment they saved each other, they've been best friends. They lived under a bridge for a while, but they got separated during a rainstorm and Ri ended up in the river the bridge went over. Somehow, Re ended up at the base I was training at. Neither one of us knew where Ri was. Eventually, we did find her. This was when they were about seven or eight. If you want to tell them you know the story, go ahead, but don't say more than that. The most painful wounds aren't visible from the surface and take the longest to heal. These wounds have yet to heal, and they are still tender."  
  
"Did you happen to find her at a church?" asked one of the pilots.  
  
"What?" said Noin.  
  
"Did you find her in a church?" repeated Duo.  
  
"Yes, as a matter of fact we did."  
  
"So that's why she donates most of her salary to churches," said Trowa.  
  
"Was it the Maxwell Church?" continued Duo, getting more excited by the minute.  
  
"Yes, it was," she said, beginning to get suspicious of something, "She was horrified after the Maxwell Church Tragedy, especially after she heard that they was only one survivor. She cheered up considerably when she heard that the survivor was a young boy. Why do you ask Duo?"  
  
"Ever wonder why I donate my bonuses to churches?" At that he turned and returned to the table and waited for Ri to come back out, now confirmed in his knowledge.  
  
I'll be damned. So he's the one she's been looking for, Noin thought as she grinned and went to join Duo.  
  
"Hey guys, don't say anything about me asking about the church. She made me a promise, and I want to see if she kept it."  
  
Meanwhile, Re and Ri were doing their best to get each other cleaned up. Ri was still shaking and Re was happily wiping her face.  
  
"How can you be happy right now?"  
  
"I'm getting this damn make-up off. That's enough to cheer me up."  
  
"Whatever frosts your cupcake."  
  
"Cupcake? Can I have a cupcake?" Re's voice was hopeful.  
  
Ri rolled her eyes, opened her purse and started to reapply her make-up. She always did a lot of work around her eyes. She accented them with colors that gave them more depth or a sultrier look, something that she had always been told she had lacked. Next to her, Re was trying to apply blush that made her less pale looking, something she had been severely criticized for. Neither one said a word until they were done, when they hugged.  
  
"I still owe you," said Re, rubbing her face on her sister's shoulder.  
  
"We're even," replied Ri, remembering that day so far in the past. They smiled at each other, glad that the horrors of the past were gone and behind them, though the ghosts still lingered. They hadn't seen their father or mother since the day they went to the hospital. They hoped never to see him again, though they missed their mother with all of their hearts. Arms around each other's shoulders, they went back out to join the guys.  
  
"So, are you going to see if Duo's the one now?"  
  
"Yep. If you want to help, just follow my lead."  
  
Together they arrived at the table, and were immediately pulled into the small arms of their favorite kawaii blond.  
  
"Noin has told us about your nightmares. I can't say I know how you feel, because I don't, but if it helps at all I want you to know that I'm sorry for what you were put through and if you ever feel like talking, I'm willing to listen. If you don't want to talk about it, then you don't have to say a thing," said Quatre, hugging them tightly. The two girls were surprised by his gesture. Usually they were the ones hugging him, and then he didn't seem to always like it. After a moment, they hugged him back and thanked him for his kindness. When they were released, they saw the other pilots looking at them. Heero and Trowa didn't seem too affected by what Noin had told them, but when they came closer, the boys asked them if they were okay and if they wanted to be left alone. For them, this was a major show of compassion. The girls didn't want to be alone then, they never did after those dreams, but they were thirsty and water sounded good. They eagerly went to get them their drinks. As Wufei looked at them, his eyes glowed with a new respect for them and their ability to survive. These were not weak onnas. These were strong warriors with the ability to rise above challenges and grief. And as they went to sit, he stood up, pulled the chairs out for them, and bowed in a respectful manner. They sat and he pushed their chairs in. They were about to say something but he cut them off.  
  
"Don't get used to this treatment, onnas. Tonight you relived a horrible episode, and we are just trying to help you cope." He kneeled beside Re's chair, looked her straight in the eyes and said in a voice so low only she could hear him, "If you ever have one of these dreams again, come to me. I'm no therapist, but I will comfort you as best I can. As I have no girlfriend, you needn't worry about a vengeful onna coming for your hide." He brushed some stray hairs out of her eyes and let his hand rest on her shoulder. "Sometimes after a bad dream, you can't stand being alone. If you ever need just to be with someone."  
  
"I know where to go," she finished for him. She gave him a hug, pulling him close to her. "Thank you for caring, Wufei. Ri told me about Nataku. If you ever need to talk or just be with someone, come to me. I like to keep things even." Wufei just let her hold him, sensing that she needed it. He was a bit upset she knew about Nataku, but she seemed to be okay with it.  
  
"That was the past. Though I still miss her, and the thought that I wasn't that great a husband to her while she was alive stings, I know she watches over me and I can feel her presence."  
  
"It was her way to uphold justice. The fact that she died protecting justice is what she wanted. She is still alive. She is justice. " Wufei looked at Re. What she had just said were Nataku's last words before getting into the suit she would fight her last battle in. Could this be the sign he had asked for? Did Nataku approve of this girl to be his? He just stared at her until she caught him staring, then he looked down at his tea.  
  
Ri watched this little mini-drama unfold, and then turned to Duo. "So, why do you wear your hair in a braid, Duo? Not that it looks bad or anything, I'm just curious."  
  
"Yeah, I guess you don't see guys with three foot braids everyday, huh?" They both laughed. Duo prayed she remembered him. "Well, I used to wear my hair down when I was really little until I went to this one place. There was this lady there who used to be real important to me. She died about ten years ago, but she braided for me so it wouldn't get all tangled and stuff. I've just kept it like this because I like it and it's my reminder of her kindness to me."  
  
"What was her name?"  
  
"Her name was Sister Helen."  
  
"You called her sister? Was she a nun or something?"  
  
"Yeah. I donate my bonuses to churches because of what her and the priest at that church did for me."  
  
"Was there ever anyone else who was really important to you?"  
  
Duo looked at her. She seemed to honestly know nothing about him. Have I really changed that much? Does she just not remember me? Or is she playing dumb until she certain of who I am? He sighed, pretending to be thinking the question over. Well, guess I'll just answer her honestly. "There were two other people who were really important to me. One of them is who I got my first name from, the other is who I got my will to get through the war from."  
  
"Who were they?"  
  
"Well, the guy who I got my name from died of a virus a long time ago. Before I had met Sister Helen. I didn't have anywhere to go, so he took me in. He taught me how to survive. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for some of the things he had taught me. His name was Solo, and when he died he said he would always be with me. Since I didn't really have a name at the time, I decided I would be Duo, since it would always be the two of us."  
  
"And the other?"  
  
Duo gulped. Now was the moment of truth. Re had been following the conversation and was now paying close attention. "She never really told me her name. All of us, Solo before he died, Sister Helen, and the father, called her Angel. She looked more like a fairy, but Solo always said she was the angel that was sent to heaven because she was too mischievous to stay up there and she hadn't gone to hell because Satan was afraid she would take over." He laughed. "A little hellish angel. Always hyper and smiling." Then he became quiet and sad. "I don't know where she is now, though. I didn't have a family, but she had two sisters who came one day and took her away. She promised me she would find me one day and that she would never forget me. A few days later the church was attacked and I was the only one who had survived."  
  
Re decided this had gone on long enough. "Good thing we got you out of there when we did then, huh sis?"  
  
Ri smiled. She had heard enough. "Yeah. If you and Noin hadn't gotten me out of there, I would be a real angel. Though heaven probably wouldn't accept me, and you can be certain I would take over hell." She jumped into Duo's lap. "I'm so glad I've finally found you. I was so afraid I wouldn't be able to keep my promise." She hugged him and pulled him close. Duo realized what she was saying and stood, tossing her in the air and catching her as she came down.  
  
"ANGEL!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. He spun her in circles. Re laughed and clapped her hands. "Finally!"  
  
The rest of the Gundam boys sat in complete oblivion, unsure of exactly what was causing all the joy and happiness and whatnot, so they held up little signs that read, 'YAY!' on them. And all was good with the Gundam pilots.  
  
  
  
  
  
LL- (still using signs) We all have strep. We so sorry for lack of better dialogue.  
  
FireImp- (sign) At least it's quiet around here.  
  
(Chibi-muses continue with their various tasks)  
  
Llama- (gives chibi-muses pancakes)  
  
LL- (sign) Oh, crud. Now they have sugar.  
  
(Llama gives LL some pancakes)  
  
FireImp- (sign) Oh, crap, now she has sugar. PLEASE SOMEBODY SAVE ME FROM THESE MANIACS!!!!  
  
(LL and Duo start dancing in circles and playing with Wufei's hair)  
  
Chibi-muse Wufei- (very good imitation of the Heero Yuy Death Glare ©)  
  
FireImp- (sign) Just read and review, pretty please?  
  
Llama- (holds out a plate of pancakes) 


	5. Electricians and Duct Tape

FireImp- Things are actually going to start getting interesting soon.  
  
LL- It won't all be random chaos and revenge.  
  
Chibi-muse Heero- RETRIBUTION! (starts flying around in crazy little circles)  
  
Other chibi-muses- (cower in fear)  
  
LL- Right. (sweatdrop)  
  
FireImp- Yeah. Anyway, enjoy. (Llama passes out popcorn and pancakes)  
  
  
  
  
  
On Wednesday, Re woke up early, as usual, and kicked everyone else into gear. Everyone came to the kitchen in their pajamas, which was how they usually ate breakfast. Despite the early hour, Ri was bouncy and perky (FireImp- DAMN YOU FOR YOUR PERPETUAL PERKINESS! LL- ^_^ v), while the boys and Re were barely able to function. After a few cups of coffee, they began to show signs of life. Ri and Re fixed breakfast, leaving the guys to do the dishes while the girls got dressed. The two wore denim jackets with little phrases and pictures all over them (LL- Behold the wonders FireImp works with Sharpies when she gets bored). They both were dressed all in black, which brought cheers from Duo, and they wore matching pendants and earrings (FireImp-Behold the wonders LL works with paperclips when she gets bored).  
  
After they had all finished eating and the dishes had been done, they all piled into Trowa's minivan and headed to the Preventer's headquarters. Ri, Re and the guys rode the elevator up to the conference room. When they got there, Treize was sitting at one of the tables happily sipping a hot cup of coffee. He lifted his cup to Ri as she passed, saluting her skills with miscreant machinery. Zechs sat next to him, dozing with his feet on the table and his ankles crossed. Sally and Noin hadn't arrived yet, so the guys sat down at the table opposite from Zechs and Treize's while the two girls grinned and headed for the desk in the dark corner. Soon, the air was filled with the scent of Sharpies and they heard the now familiar sound of Ri's pliers clicking as she mutilated paperclips. There also came the sound of insane giggling from the same dark corner as the Sharpie fumes began to take their toll on the already hyper girls. Other than that, the silence of the room could have been cut with a knife.  
  
Trowa, Heero and Wufei followed Zechs' example and fell asleep sitting up. Quatre got a cup of coffee and sat quietly sipping it, enjoying the silence. Duo was bored, so he went over to the girls and borrowed a pair of scissors. Moving very quietly, he moved behind Wufei and made a motion to Treize. Treize, holding back a grin, struck up a conversation with Wufei to keep him distracted will Duo did his work.  
  
"I wonder what the mission is," said Treize, watching Duo slip behind Wufei.  
  
"Whatever it is, it must be important if she's gathered all of us here, plus the two onnas," replied Wufei, not bothering to open his eyes. He remained ignorant to the fact that Duo was behind him, poised with the scissors getting ready to cut the band holding his hair back.  
  
Quatre, who also didn't know of Duo's plan, decided to join the conversation.  
  
"Treize, we all saw Wufei kill you. You've been back for about three months now, but you haven't told us what happened. Did you really die?"  
  
"Yes, I did." Treize squirmed.  
  
"How did you come back?" asked Wufei, who leaned forward in his seat. Fortunately, Duo had anticipated his movement and had managed not to cut off his ponytail. Ri and Re noticed what Duo was doing. Ri stayed on the desk, and shoved Re off the desk to help Treize keep Wufei distracted. She went over to Wufei, shot a glare at her older sister, and sat on the table in front of him, leaned back and casually let the jacket slide off her shoulder, showing the slender straps of the tight fitting black midriff shirt she wore. Wufei, honorable though he was, couldn't resist the sight of the pale flesh that was slowly being exposed before him. Blood slowly began to trickle out of his nose. Re, always trying to help her baka, pulled a tissue out of one of the many pockets of her jacket and leaned over to wipe his nose. As she did this, she placed her hand on his thigh to help her stay balanced. This caused Ri to have to fight even harder not to laugh as she watched her sister innocently drag Wufei under. This was better than the time the two of them had caught Noin and Zechs making out on the couch and recorded it for blackmail. Duo was trying to reach Wufei's ponytail without being caught while at the same time not burst out laughing at the sight of Wufei getting a nose bleed over woman letting her jacket slide down a little. The hand Re had braced in his lap slipped and she ended up falling forward into his arms. Wufei caught her, and paused as her mouth stopped a mere breath from his. Duo fell back a few feet and had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. He recovered quickly and crept back behind Wufei.  
  
"I really don't want to talk about it," said Treize, hiding his grin behind his coffee cup as he took a sip, "But I will say that I wasn't the only one that was brought back. There were at least seven others."  
  
"Seven!? That many?" shouted Quatre. Duo managed to snag the rubber band holding Wufei's hair and cut it without a sound. He then ran silently back to the desk and returned the scissors to the proper drawer. He wrapped his arms around Ri, who buried her face in his shoulder to smother her laughter. Treize was also having a hard time not laughing as the severed band loosened its grip and released the midnight strands it had held. Wufei had been preparing to launch another barrage of questions at Treize when his hair fell into his eyes. He reached back to where his ponytail had been, and looked on the ground to see the severed rubber band laying on there. He looked at it for a moment, and as it was the kind of rubber band that you can't tell whether it snapped or was cut, he assumed the slim thing had simply snapped because he had wrapped it around his hair too tight that morning. He blushed a little, as he was afraid that he looked like a girl with his hair down. Quatre was shocked at the sight of the warrior with his hair down, and he could tell from the sounds coming from Duo in the corner that it hadn't been an accident. He decided to keep the peace and not say anything about it. Re, in the meantime, had gotten into a more comfortable position in Wufei's lap and had begun to run her fingers through his hair. Wufei blushed even more as the flow of blood from his nose strengthened. Re laughed softly, blushed, wiped his nose again and kissed him on the forehead. She combed his hair with her long fingers, whispering something in his ear about how she liked him better with his hair down. Duo, from his position on the desk with Ri, grew somewhat jealous. Ri and Re had played with his hair at the bar last Friday, but they had all been drunk and it wasn't anything like what Re was doing. He released a mental sigh and looked down at Ri, who had gotten out of his lap and had gone back to mutilating paperclips. Treize was about to say something when Sally and Noin came through the door.  
  
"Sorry we're late everyone. Got in a traffic jam," said Noin as she sat down next to Zechs and opened a folder she had brought in with her.  
  
"Good thing it was Sally with her and not Zechs. Otherwise we would be here waiting for them until the building closes," Duo whispered to Ri. Luckily, Noin was far enough away that she couldn't hear what he said, but she knew they were talking about her so she glared at them anyway. They both just grinned at her. Heero, Trowa, and Zechs woke up from their little naps. Noin pushed Zechs' feet off the table and began spreading her notes out on the table. Re got out of Wufei's lap as Duo and Ri sat down at the table closest to the coffee machine. While Noin was still getting organized, Duo got himself a cup of coffee and he made a cup of hot chocolate for Ri. Sally dropped a big white box in front of Ri and Duo.  
  
"Since the traffic was at a complete stop, I was able to run into a grocery store and pick this up."  
  
Ri opened the box and upon seeing the contents her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.  
  
"DONUTS!!"  
  
There was flying wax paper and miniscule bites of frosting within a millisecond. The others could only stare in disbelief. In a matter of about thirty seconds, a box of fifteen donuts was completely gone, all spilt between Duo and Ri. The last one they shared, Duo biting off one half and Ri accepting the other from his lips. Re called from the safety of the back, "Get a room guys. No body wants to see that!!"  
  
"You're one to talk, lap dancer!"  
  
Re chuckled as she remembered poor Wufei's nosebleed. He was blushing furiously now, and Noin gave the four of them a very queer look indeed. She continued on, despite this new information about her younger sister's occupation, deciding to ask her about it later. "We have some satellite photographs of some suspicious trash carriers." She unrolled some glossy photos and spread them out before her. The whole table leaned forward to examine the evidence. Ri commented, "They're awfully big."  
  
"Exactly. These are far too big to be normal trash carriers. We at headquarters believe these are weapon carriers or transporters for materials. We need to find out which one it is, because we need to plot out what we should do; offensive or defensive."  
  
Duo grinned. "I hope it's offensive. I wanna blow stuff up."  
  
Heero smiled demonically. Noin rolled her eyes. "Macho men," she muttered. "I want to send all of you to investigate. The dumps and recycling plants are here" - at this she unfurled a map of Japan, and a city only a few kilometers away - "and I want you guys to infiltrate it, gather all the necessary information and get out." She glared pointedly at Duo and Heero. "No blowing anything up."  
  
Duo eyes got teary and his lower lip quivered adorably. Ri patted his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "All right. The mission will commence by this Friday, no later than that. That should give you enough time to tune up your Gundams is case things get bad."  
  
Trowa's voice rose to question Noin. "How do you expect us to infiltrate this place without being detected?"  
  
"Leave it up to us. Hey, we got in here without too much trouble, didn't we Ri?" Re asked with an evil smile.  
  
Her twin nodded. "We're experts at this sort of stuff."  
  
Noin said, "I don't want you two to create too much trouble. Besides, the love struck guys you leave in your wake might try to follow you. Try something else this time, if you will?"  
  
Ri shrugged. "Okay."  
  
Re smiled. "I already have an idea."  
  
The boys and girls had. ahem, borrowed uniforms from a few unwitting electricians, and waited for the call from Ri that would send them into the recycling plant. They'd slipped her in through the back, trusting her to remain unseen, with orders to fray the wires in the power box, thus sending the remainder of the group into the building without question. They were waiting for her in the building across from the recycling plant, crammed into a small storage room.  
  
Trowa had begun to juggle ping- pong balls in his boredom, and Quatre watched in childish fascination. Heero had, yet again, decided to take a nap. Duo was wondering how he could sleep so much yet still be so grumpy all the time. Most everyone else was too nervous or too ready for action to fall asleep. Wufei was pacing, either from the tension or the tight space, and Duo watched him in mild amusement. A plan for revenge on her sister was hatching in Re's mind, but now was not the time to act on it. Revenge knows no time limits. (FireImp: Mwahahahahaha.) The telephone ringing caused everyone in the room to jump to their feet. Re pounced on it. "Everything's done?"  
  
"The echoing, pathetic screams of the wimpy people over here haven't reached your ears yet?"  
  
Re smiled. "Not yet. Give us twenty minutes, a half hour at most, and then we'll make our entrance."  
  
The sound of the disconnecting line was very. final. Re hated missions like this, when she didn't quite know where Ri was, and when she'd get to see her again. Damn it all, after all they'd been through she'd better make it out alive!! Not to mention Duo would be twice the basket case he usually is if anything happened to Ri. But Re didn't have to worry about that at the moment. Currently Duo was bouncing off the walls from the donuts he'd had earlier. The myriad of dents in the walls were beginning to make the room a completely different shape than when they'd first gone in. She calmed him down the best she could and readied the rest of the group. "I have just a few requests to make. Trowa, Zechs and Duo, I need you three to hide your hair the best you can. I'm certain there will be at least a few women in this place, and they're going to drool over your hair."  
  
Trowa queried, "Why do I have to hide my hair? It's not a fraction of the length of theirs."  
  
Re sighed. "When your hair is like that, you emanate mystery. You'll intrigue people, or generally make them notice you, which is not our objective."  
  
She turned on Treize then and assured him, "I love you dearly, really I do, and you may think that because you're technically dead you won't be recognized, but. you gotta do something with your eyebrows."  
  
With a heavy sigh, the not quite-as-elegant-as-usual gentleman fixed his definitive eyebrows. Everyone stared in shock. "Wow," Duo said in awe, "he almost looks. normal."  
  
The glare that Treize sent him was deadly enough to fell an elephant, but not certain sugar-high outspoken braided Americans.  
  
Re thought of something else. "Quatre, try not to talk."  
  
He looked befuddled. "Why ever not?"  
  
"Because you're too polite. People will probably note that."  
  
Wufei approached her and asked, "Any assignments for me?"  
  
She grinned and patted his cheek. "Nope. Stay just the way you are. You'll repel unwanted visitors."  
  
He studied her for a moment. "Thank you. I think."  
  
The door burst open to reveal a black clad woman, with a ski mask slid over her features. She slammed the door shut behind her and peeled off the mask, sending her hair askew. "It's done. Now, where'd you put that uniform for me?"  
  
"Over in the corner," Re replied.  
  
Ri looked around. "Where are they going so I can change?"  
  
This statement naturally set Duo to drooling. Wufei leaned over to him, handed him a paper towel and said, "Duo, you're dripping."  
  
Re assured her, "Just slip it on over your other clothes. You'll be fine."  
  
"Not if I sweat like a pig," she protested.  
  
Re rolled her eyes. "You're just doing this so you can striptease for Duo."  
  
"Am not! I've never stripped in front of a guy before and you know it! I'm not that bad."  
  
Re called over her shoulder, "Turn and face the wall, if you will, gentlemen."  
  
Duo pouted quite adamantly and turned around. very slowly. Everyone else had no difficulty with Ri's modesty and did as they were told. Re stood in front of her sister and glared at Duo. He would try to steal peeks at her, but was usually intercepted by Re's death glare.  
  
They finally arrived at the front doors of the recycling plant and entered. They were greeted with sighs of relief and grumbles about their tardiness. Ri, Trowa and Quatre carried toolboxes, along with a detailed map of the place; not that it was needed, as everyone had already memorized it. Re dropped her voice by several octaves and sounded convincingly masculine. She asked a question that she already knew the answer to, but asked it to decrease suspicion. "Where can we find the power box?"  
  
The manager, in his white hard hat and crisp white shirt pointed down the hall. "Down thataway 'til you get to this four-way intersection. You'll wanna hang a right, then you'll come to this door that says 'Personnel Only' and it's straight back. You can't miss it."  
  
She nodded and headed that way. When the manager gave her an odd look for having a whole herd of electricians following her, she explained, "They're here in case this turns out to be a bigger problem than it appears."  
  
He nodded and waved them away. They walked briskly to the back room, where Ri replaced the frayed wires, but left the main power line unhooked. Re went back out, only to hear more grumbling complaints about their speed. She found the manager and explained, "I'm going to have my boys check the circuits throughout the building; there appears to be a shortage elsewhere besides the power box. We'll need access to all rooms, sir."  
  
The manager sighed and said wearily, "Go ahead. But try to hurry; I need this to be working within an hour."  
  
Re nodded her answer. She returned to the group and murmured, "We have a time limit now; one hour. I don't suspect the manager, so don't waste time following him. If you can eavesdrop, do it." She raised her voice. "I want you three to go to the entrance dock. I'll take these two and go to the processing room and the rest of you go the loading area. I'll meet you back at the main entrance to get your appraisals. Now get to it!"  
  
Re contemplated her groups. 'Heero will keep Duo focused and Trowa will actually look like he knows what he's doing; Zechs and Wufei at least get along and they have Ri to keep them going; and Quatre, Treize and me. get along, yet again, but we'll all get our stuff done.'  
  
She set off with her group and went to the processing room. They walked slowly, so as to catch any conversations that sounded as though they pertained to their mission. She walked by a conversation that she'd have rather not heard, mostly consisting of one woman bitching at another woman. They also passed a small closet with very. telling sounds coming from it. Re rolled her eyes and Quatre nearly glowed in the dim light. She half- expected him to get a nosebleed. Re paused only slightly as they walked by a small group of frantically chattering workers, and listened. ".the shipment's due any day now! How can we expect to accomplish this when the fucking power's not working?"  
  
Another calmed the outraged worker. "We will overcome the opposition. Have faith, my friend."  
  
"The parts."  
  
He was shushed almost as soon as he spoke. Re felt the ominous glares on her back as she breezed by them. Treize and Quatre remained emotionless. Re continued on, pretending as though she didn't understand them. The processing room was huge, loud and busy, all advantageous in their situation. Re only hoped that the others had such good fortune. She signaled for Quatre to go to the back wall and find the power box. She had Treize search along the side wall. She took another, passing by a large, securely locked door. It was enormous; it took up a third of the wall and touched the ceiling. She shouted at a passing worker, "Hey, can I get in here? I need to."  
  
A glare and a definite and sharp 'no' cut her off. She explained, "I need to have access to all rooms because."  
  
Again, the very rude 'no' was issued. She acted disgruntled. "Look mister, I got permission from your manager."  
  
She stumbled a bit when he shoved her. "Get your boys and get out of here. There aren't any power boxes in here."  
  
"I'm just trying to do my job, man."  
  
"Get out!"  
  
Re strutted by him and went to Quatre who had joined up with Treize and was heading for her already. She nodded for the door and they left.  
  
Ri was having trouble acting as though she wasn't in awe of the trash carriers the size of two Gundams. But it was okay, because Wufei and Zechs had quite similar problems. Usually, trash carriers were only about eighty by thirty feet. These were about two or three times that size. She found the power box in the dock anyway and tsked and shook her head at the sight of such poorly wired machinery. She re-wired it quickly and grinned when the doors no longer seemed to be sticking. Cheers arose from many of the workers behind her. Ri smiled and shook her head. People could be so easily pleased, as long as you did the work right. Wufei glowered at her and commented under his breath, "We're not here to do technical work for them, you know."  
  
"But we're supposed to be."  
  
He sighed and gave up. Ri was just one of those types. Zechs was at her back, assessing the carriers, listening for anything suspicious. They were finished soon. They didn't wait long for Re's and Duo's return to the main entrance. They huddled, and Ri whispered, "You've gotta come to the dock. Those pictures make the carriers look like RC cars."  
  
Duo didn't have much to report, and Re briefed them on the mysterious, guarded door in the processing room. Re went back to the manager and informed him, "We've narrowed it down to one of two places; either the entrance dock or the main power box. It'll only take us a few more minutes before you guys'll be up and running."  
  
He smiled genuinely and thanked her. They all made their way to the docks and Re stopped in her tracks before she controlled her emotions. "Holy shit," she whispered.  
  
Ri nodded. "That's what I thought."  
  
"Hey!"  
  
The unfamiliar voice made them all turn expectantly. The jovial man grinned and said, "You guys do great work. Those doors back there have been sticking for ages, and look at 'em now!"  
  
Re smiled and said, "We do our best sir."  
  
Ri pounced on the opportunity and commented casually, "Those carriers are huge! I've never seen them that big."  
  
The man rubbed his neck. "Me neither. I heard they upgraded 'em to make the workload easier, but I don't know." He shrugged. "Guess the company finally started thinking about the workers, not just the work."  
  
"I'll say."  
  
"Thanks again; I gotta get back."  
  
Re grinned and said ruefully, "Yeah, us too. Nice talking to you."  
  
The man waved and walked away. Re grinned at her sister. "You just catch admirers everywhere you go."  
  
They pretended to examine the box, Zechs and Treize comparing assessments of the carriers, then left the docks and fixed the main power box. They left after tipping their hats and drove like bats outta Hell to headquarters. Noin was awaiting them in the main office. She raised her eyebrows expectantly at them upon their entrance. Re and Ri nodded, affirming her unspoken question. They all huddled in the conference room, and Ri exclaimed, "I saw those carriers, Cretzy, and those photos of yours? Yeah, they make them look atom sized rather than Gundam sized."  
  
Zechs agreed, "They seem to be approximately one hundred and eighty to two hundred meters in length and seventy to one hundred meters wide. Normal carriers are."  
  
"Eighty by thirty; I know." She placed a hand on her forehead. "I had no idea that they were going to be so big."  
  
"What're they going to be used for?" Heero asked.  
  
Re added, "One of the workers said something about parts. And there's this big, mysterious room that I wasn't allowed to go into despite the fact the manager gave us access to all rooms. So I imagine the manager's not in on whatever this is."  
  
Noin sighed. "They've already begun. We think that OZ is trying to take over the colonies. again, yes, but we're not sure how they plan to do that. My best guess is that they're trying to build up an army and some serious firepower." She turned to Re. "The parts are probably for many mobile suits."  
  
Duo brushed his bangs back and said wearily, "Shit."  
  
Noin asked Re, "Can you pull this off again?"  
  
She shrugged. "Yeah. I guess we can go back in using the same disguise, saying that we're just checking up on things. Maybe the shipment will have arrived by then. They said any day now. I'd give it three to five days."  
  
Noin nodded. "Sounds good to me. Rest up, because I don't want to hear about you in the news."  
  
They all trudged home, weak and tired from both mental and physical exhaustion. Ri said, "I don't even have the strength to lift a beer. Though I could use one right about now."  
  
Her sister smiled. "Don't worry, we'll make you one of those huge long straw ropes and you can use that."  
  
"Really? Cool."  
  
Ri rested her head on Re's shoulder and followed her up the stairs to their room. No one wanted to cook, or call for take out, so they all stripped out of their clothes and fell into their beds without even waking up for dinner.  
  
The next morning at about eleven o'clock, they paid dearly for missing two meals the day before. Sandwiches and soups and ramen and fried meats and rice and cereals and pancakes and tea (for Quatre) and coffee and beer (FI: ~ whew! ~) were all laid out on the table and kitchen counters. By only eleven forty- five, it was all gone. Duo let out a monstrous burp. He lounged on the sofa lazily and called to Ri, "Hey. Do we have any more rice?"  
  
Ri had been resting her head on the counter that she and Re had just cleared and moaned. "You're still hungry?"  
  
"Well, you know, I did miss two meals. Not just one, two."  
  
Heero pointed out from the recliner, "So did the rest of us."  
  
Duo waved it off. "Doesn't matter; I'm a growing boy, I need my nourishment."  
  
"Yesh, growing around the middle if you keep this 'see food' diet up," Re teased.  
  
He looked disgruntled at that comment. "Hey now."  
  
"We've gotta go to the grocery store again if you want more food," Ri informed him.  
  
Quatre looked shocked. "We ate all of it?"  
  
Ri only nodded. All the boys surrounding Duo sent him many death glares that were trying in vain to melt him into a puddle of nothing at their feet. (FI: YEEESSSS!! Puddles of nothing at my feet! YES!!) He looked around sheepishly and said, "Please don't hurt me." He tried to dazzle them with his starry eyes and big goofy grin. "Look, I'm cute!"  
  
"I volunteer Duo to go to the store for the food," Trowa said.  
  
"I wouldn't do that," Wufei interjected, "he might eat it all before he gets back."  
  
"Damn it, he's right." Heero scowled. "We'll have to send someone with him."  
  
"Oh, hell. Just go, will you? Ri and I get to stay home 'cause we cooked."  
  
"And cleaned," came the addition from the countertop.  
  
"Or. we could let Duo stay home, but he gets served last," Trowa suggested deviously.  
  
Duo whimpered.  
  
"For a week." Heero grinned evilly.  
  
Duo began to cry loudly. "NO!!"  
  
Re shrugged. "Sounds fair to me, but Ri, he's your man. What do ya say?"  
  
She didn't lift her head to reply. "Okay."  
  
Re thought for a moment. "Actually, could you go with them Ri?"  
  
Ri looked pitiful. "Nani?"  
  
"I'll give you dark chocolate, chocolate chip cookies if you do," Re bargained. Ri perked up slightly and nodded. "Only for the cookies."  
  
At about twelve fifteen, they piled into Trowa's minivan and left. Duo stole the shower from Re while she made more coffee. For some reason, the sound of running water coming from the bathroom gave her an idea. Revenge was called for, she vaguely remembered; besides, it was such a beautiful and wonderful thing. The priest's collar tossed carelessly on the floor was protruding from the crack in the door. She pulled the discarded clothes from under the door and hid them where no one would think to look: in the hamper. Duo, God love him, was not a housekeeper. Actually, none of the guys were. Well, Wufei ironed his clothes, and Quatre at least kept his things up off the floor, but somehow their clothes never made it to the hamper.  
  
Re giggled maniacally at the elaborate plan unfolding in her diabolical little mind. She waited for the water to cut off, and heard Duo calling her. She slipped the roll of duct tape into her enormous back pocket and answered, "Yes?"  
  
"Where are my clothes?"  
  
Re suppressed her laughter. "I don't know, Duo. Where did you put them?"  
  
"In the floor. I always put them in the floor."  
  
She said wryly, "I noticed."  
  
"Look Re, either you give me back my clothes, or I'm not coming out."  
  
"I don't know where you put them, Braid Boy, so I guess you're staying put."  
  
She heard him mumble through the door about weird, clothes- stealing women before it quieted down again. Ri walked in not long after and dropped her bags just inside the kitchen. She announced, "I have got to get a shower. My hair is icky."  
  
Re sat nonchalantly on the sofa, reading a book. and hiding a roll of duct tape. "It's all yours."  
  
Ri started stripping out of her grungy clothes and retrieved a towel from the linen closet. She chucked her dirty clothes at her sister. "Put these in the hamper, will you?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Ri completely missed Re's evil smile and called over her shoulder, "You left the light on in here. Poor Howard's electricity bill will be."  
  
She hadn't thought much of Re's approach until she was shoved in the bathroom and into Duo's chest. The door slammed shut behind them, and the sound of insane giggling and duct tape unrolling filtered through the door. Oh my God, she didn't. Ri thought.  
  
It wasn't long before she realized that Duo was still holding her, and he was naked. Well, almost naked. A hand towel was tied around his waist, but that wasn't much. And, of course, she was wearing nothing but a towel as well. She started to move away from him, but when she gently pushed against him, she slipped on a puddle of water. Duo made a valiant attempt to catch her, and he almost succeeded. until she brought him down with her. She managed to land on top of him, and she openly stared at him before she realized their compromising position. She blushed and rolled off him with a mumbled apology. But there was something in her mind that chided her, wondering whether she really wanted to move this time.  
  
He was soaking wet, and his hair was unbraided. The charmingly wavy locks draped over his muscled shoulders and dripped down his back. Not to mention that he was built like a normally sized 'David'. Ri tried to maintain her dignity and not drool. She wanted to kill Re for doing this. but then again maybe she didn't (LL-yeah, I do, even though I'm drooling as I read what she has done to me). Duo looked pretty damn sexy when he was wet. And every other time she saw him, clothes or no clothes. This was better than she had imagined in her most erotic dreams. She thought with a grin, Somebody call Playboy; this is something they don't want to miss.   
  
Much the same idea was running through Duo's head. Well, Ri was at least dry, but her short hair was down for once and was only wearing a bath towel. It covered her chest well enough, but it hiked up to the tops of her thighs. She had a lot of leg and a lot of muscle, making her sturdy and compactly built. (LL- That's what ya get when you take fencing lessons ^_^ v) Damn, she almost had as much muscle as he did! Her lovely face topped off her gorgeous body, and her blush hadn't quite faded from her cheeks. Her hair floated around her face, ending at about her chin, and the wispy strands made her seem ethereal. Angel of Death? Damn straight she was.  
  
At this point, Ri was desperately searching for a way to get out of the room. Sure, she didn't mind being trapped in there with Duo, but if she stayed in there much longer, she would probably do something she would regret. The window was painted shut, several layers of ancient paint fusing it to the sill. The door wasn't an option. Knowing Re, she probably used the entire roll of duct tape on the door. They weren't getting out until she was ready to let them out. She ran a hand through her hair, then sighed in disgust. She really needed that shower. She sat down on the toilet, crossing her legs and bounced her foot in frustration. Duo, after recovering from seeing the towel hike up another inch when she sat down, noticed her frustration. The shower in this bathroom was a bathtub with a showerhead over it (a/n- you know, one of those with a little knob that turned on the shower?) He looked at the shower curtain. It was one of those ones you can't see through. He thought for a minute, considering whether his system would handle it. He decided it could.  
  
"Hey, Ri," he said. She looked up, her arms crossed over her chest, holding up her towel. "Look, um, if you want to take your shower, go right ahead." His face turned a bright shade of red as he spoke to her. "I can't see through the curtain, and I'll even keep my back turned for you. Maybe if Re hears the shower going again, she'll think we're in it together and let us out when it turns off." Ri looked at him, thinking that he looked absolutely adorable with his hair down and embarrassed. She smiled.  
  
"Thanks, Duo." She turned away from him and headed for the tub. Duo turned away when he saw her reach for her towel. He heard it fall to the ground, and he listened as she went in to the tub and turned on the water. He was beginning to drool. It was very tempting to take off his towel and join her, but even he had a shred of honor. Besides, who knew what Noin would do to him if she found out he had taken a shower with one of her sisters? He sat on the floor, trying to keep himself restrained. She was humming a song as she bathed, then she started to sing.  
  
Good Heart by Starship, he thought. He had seen her listening to it earlier. She seemed to really like that song. (LL-love it, love it, love it). Re listened carefully on the other side of the door, just in case. Nothing seemed to be going wrong. well, too wrong, considering the situation. Ri was singing, so that had to mean that they weren't otherwise occupied. Which was kind of a good sign, in that Ri and Duo were practically meant for each other. And they were just so cute. They just needed a little push in the right direction. Re smiled. God, she loved her job sometimes. She wondered when she should let them out. and tell them that she didn't tape the door shut at all. Actually the wall was changing to a lovely silver color. She hoped that Howard wouldn't mind her choice in wallpaper. She decided that while she had the chance, she'd wash their clothes.  
  
Meanwhile, the other guys were putting away the groceries. They had just finished when Re came in with her arms full of Duo and Ri's dirty clothes. "Hey, Re, where's your sister? And do you know where Duo disappeared to?" asked Wufei.  
  
"The shower."  
  
"Who, Duo or Ri?" asked Quatre.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"To which? Which one of them is in the shower?"  
  
"Both."  
  
"You mean that Duo and Ri are taking a shower together?" said Wufei, shocked.  
  
"Not really. Duo got his shower while you were gone, and he's in there with Ri, who's in the shower. Duo is sitting outside of the shower somewhere."  
  
"So what are you doing with those clothes?"  
  
"They need to be washed. I'm going to wash them, grab them some clean clothes, then let them out of the bathroom."  
  
"What do you mean, let them out?"  
  
"Well, they think I duct taped the door shut, but I really only taped the wall. They haven't tried the door, so they haven't figured it out yet."  
  
"And what do you want us to do?"  
  
"Go along with it. If you don't mind, could you pull out some clothes for Duo? I'll take care of getting Ri's clothes."  
  
"Okay."  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Ri was done with her shower and was sitting on the toilet brushing her hair. Duo still sat facing away from her, trying to hide his blush and desire. He heard Ri put down the brush and he expected her to start talking to him, but what she did instead was glomp him from behind. Her small fingers ran through his long hair, trying to undo the snarls. She grabbed her brush, and slowly brushed Duo's hair. It was still wet, the humidity in the room making it impossible for it to dry. Once she had done, she started randomly running her fingers through it, winding the strands by his temples and ears around her finger, then slowly unwinding them. Getting bolder, she sat in his lap. Chocolate met grape, theirs eyes locked together. The water dripped from the tips of her hair, tiny drops sitting on her sturdy shoulders (LL- I hate my shoulders). Their lips met, locked in a passionate kiss that was rudely interrupted when Quatre opened the door. The sight of the two of them shocked the poor lad, holding each other tightly, clad only in towels, sharing such a loving gesture. He blushed fiercely, dropped the clothes he had been holding, and ran back to his room before he got a nosebleed. Duo and Ri grabbed the clothes, and noticed that not a single piece of taped was on the door, but the walls were duct-tape silver. They got dressed, backs facing each other, and started plotting together a joint revenge on Re and her unknowing co-victim.  
  
  
  
  
  
LL-You don't want to know what I'm going to do to you. As we both know, revenge is a fun thing.  
  
FireImp-Should I be scared?  
  
Chibi-muse Duo- Considering how hyperactive her imagination is and the books she's been borrowing from her mom, yes, you should be screaming wildly away into the night.  
  
Chibi-muse Quatre- (puts cotton balls in his ears so he doesn't have to listen and puts tissues up his nose to stop the blood)  
  
Other chibi-muses- (pet the llama and eat blueberry muffins) 


End file.
